EconInvestor

Maiden Lane and the Fed’s Credibility reviews the Fed’s purchase of assets in the JP Morgan/Bear Stearns deal. 

Some interesting observations about the direction of the S&P 500 can be found in the following article: Be on the Right Side of S&P Earnings Estimate Cuts .

Obama’s recess appointment of Donald Berwick as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is very troubling as seen in the article: President Obama to Make Recess Appointment of CMS Administrator Republicans Attacking as ‘Expert on Rationing’.   

There are two quotes in particular that stand out.

First, “Berwick said society makes decisions about rationing all the time, and that the ‘decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly.’” 

Whatever happened to the “invisible hand” behind free enterprise?  The same criticism given above can be leveled at ANY economic activity. “Ration with our eyes open” means government doing the rationing rather than the market. Why would we expect the government to be more efficient?  What about personal choice?

Second,  “He [the appointee] has also praised the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which he said had ‘developed very good and very disciplined, scientifically grounded, policy-connected models for the evaluation of medical treatments from which we ought to learn.’ “

How many horror stories do we have to show about the UK health care system to disprove this statement?  I’m going to start a collection and put it on the web.

This is only the beginning.

Feeling optimistic about the economy? Here are some articles to change your mood!

The key point in  Paul Krugman’s Depression Economics is “government spending is a huge tax on true economic productivity.”

Why The Greater Depression Still Lies Ahead discusses the impact of debt on the Great Depression and the similarities our current economic situation.

Stocks’ bear market risk accelerates is not optimistic about the second half of the year.

The New Wildcard of Political Uncertainty has this interesting observation:  “Incidentally, to bring today’s jobless rate down from 9.9 percent to 5 percent over the next five years, the U.S. economy would need to produce 250,000 net new jobs per month every month for five years straight. How tough would that be? The average net new job creation since 1990 has been 90,000 a month.”

A Dash of Insight: June Employment Report Preview has some interesting comments on predicting unemployment numbers.

ADP Jobs Report Supports Double-Dip Case is another article supporting a double-dip recession.

Don’t forget Europe. What is going on over there can affect us:  The Consequences of European Austerity

Here is another story on the effects of austerity: Ireland in Decline, Or, What Austerity Looks Like.

Whatever happened to the “Rule of Law”? In the BP case, one wonders. Playing Politics vs. Fighting the Spill.  Here’s the Wall Street Journal take on the escrow fund: Claims Fund Offers Shield From Suits.