I came across the group ‘The Cap Solution‘ through a few different avenues, energy industry related research, at the public library as an advertisement in the front hall, and at the local farmers market on a bulletin board. The Cap Solution is consortium of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Blue/Green Alliance, and the United Steel Workers.
Here’s what they stand for:

The cap solution in a nutshell
Capping carbon pollution encourages the growth of renewable energy and energy-efficient industries. It brings customers to these businesses, which in turn will create good jobs …

So for the last few months I definitely considered myself more of a Bear Market proponent on stocks than a Bull Market proponent. (i.e., I anticipated slow to negative growth), but this may be changing. My change of attitude is not so much about me changing my fundamental theory of markets and the need for the market to clear itself of bad assets, but rather a realization of certain dynamics. So here’s my proof on what may come of the Stimulus Package and the current financial crisis:
1) Consumer …

I love the line from Obama’s address to Congress quoted in the NY Times article:
“We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
The problem that some economist are pointing to is that we overbuilt and over-invested in our economy, and as a result the bubble busted. Now most would ask, how is it possible to over invest in an economy. Is not investment good? Of course its good, but it does need to match savings. The below …

One of the few sensible articles on the AIG compensation issue appeared in the NY times (Link to Article)
The main points were that we should pay for the compensation because it is about honoring contracts, and that these individuals are the best possibility of steering AIG out of the rough seas. The issue of honoring contracts strikes a important note with anyone who understands the role of contracts in our ability to increase our standard of living (e.g., new institutional economists).
The most interesting development of the AIG compensation coverage, …

I found the below linked article on Strike The Root to be a good allegory showing the faults of fractional reserve banking. Read it over and let me know what you think.
“Scrounging for enough food to starve over years instead of days is an exhausting grind. Crusoe can only dream of capital projects. There appear to be sources for tool making, but always a little too far from food sources to consider risking.”
http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/lafave/lafave2.html

This short video, produced by The Wall Street Journal, is a good introduction to some of the issues surrounding the current financial crisis. I believe the first of the three part series is more concrete than the remaining two which are more speculative. As time moves us forward analysis and theories of what actually happened will further our knowledge of reality. Or the story will be told in a manner that does not match reality, as those in power will seek to tell the tale in a …

I came across a great introduction to the ‘alternative’ view of the Great Depression, that is was not the lack of the markets ability to operate efficiently, but rather a large amount of government intervention which skewed the market.
I put the word alternative in quotes because its not too distant from a large portion of analysis of the Great Depression but is dissimilar to the common explanation given to non-economists.
Its interesting to think about these things in the context of what is currently occurring.
Check it out: http://fee.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/greatmythsdepression2008feemcppfinalweb.pdf

Michael Hagan gave me the heads up on this, and I thought it was worth posting. Great humor.