Comments on: Peer Steinbrück’s Peers (Weekend Comment Competition)

By: A Poor Forecaster Gets One Right (Sort of) - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

A Poor Forecaster Gets One Right (Sort of) - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:56:24 +0000

[...] Johnson, over at Baseline Scenario, wants to hear what you think is the “most untimely quote” of the last 18 months from a politician or public [...]

By: Uncle Billy Vs. Mont Pelerin

Uncle Billy Vs. Mont Pelerin — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:43:24 +0000

Whoops. Quite right. Pimco is pwn3d by the company that insured the nazi concentration camps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allianz

I always mix those two up. DB was Banker to the Gestapo and *loaned* money to build Auschwitz, etc.

By: Bill Bradbrooke

Bill Bradbrooke — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:10:31 +0000

It’s distressing that Tim Geithner continues to come under attack at Baseline Scenario. He’s been accused of being an “oligarch”, of pandering to banking interests and squandering taxpayer dollars, and now you suggest he’s an apologist for stress tests that were, in your words, unrealistic and unreliable.

Since the stress tests were announced in late Feb. the 90-day Libor has dropped like a stone, the Libor-OIS spread has narrowed and volumes in credit markets have started to climb. Financial institutions have begun with a vengeance to raise capital privately – IPOs, sales of securities, massive layoffs (500,000 jobs lost in the financial sector), spin-offs of divisions and subsidiaries, sale of minority interests, JV’s, bond issues – all, entirely and completely without taxpayer money.

I’m sorry, the stress tests were remarkably successful and the country has much for which to thank Tim Geithner.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:08:55 +0000

Bayard:

I’m sorry, the stress tests were remarkably successful and the country has much for which to thank Tim Geithner.

By: tedb

tedb — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:13:47 +0000

November 5, 2009 Former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman was ahead of Al Franken by a few hundred votes before a mandatory recount began: “If you ask me what I would do, I would step back. I just think the need for the healing process is so important. The possibility of any change of this magnitude in the voting system we have is so remote. That would be my judgment.”

November 21, 2009, when asked about his prior statement: ”I ascribe that to not having slept for three days,” he said. http://minnesotaindependent.com/18256/norm-coleman-im-a-winner-and-most-challenges-will-be-dismissed

Of course, Coleman was determined the loser by the Minnesota Canvassing Board which oversaw the recount. Coleman launched an election contest after which a three-judge panel confirmed that Franken was the victor. Coleman then appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which has received briefs from both sides, and will hear oral arguments on June 1.

By: tedb

tedb — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:53:19 +0000

We must tip our hats to Bobby Jindal who mocked the idea of spending money on “volcano monitoring” in his speech responding to Obama’s inaugural address on behalf of the Republican Party. His speech was January 20, 2009. Mount Redoubt began a continuing series of eruptions 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska on March 22.
“Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C., ” Jindal said.

Google “Redoubt eruption Jindal” for thousands of references.

By: tippygolden

tippygolden — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:55:10 +0000

Bayard,

To get the Boehner video to “embed” in this blog you would use the following string:

[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG4so76GN0U]

But — exclude the space — between [ and y

In other words, with the space you see the URL, without the space you see the youtube video player.

Instructions found in this URL:

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2006/01/26/youtube-support/

By: Kristjan V.

Kristjan V. — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:42:19 +0000

The Latvian Finance Minister tops them all.
The Bloomberg interview was done in December 2008. Latvian Q4 GDP -10,7% (Q1 2009 -18%). They have also applied for a loan from the IMF in the sum of €7.5B, but have been unable to secure it due to their inability to limit their budget deficit to less than 4.7% of GDP.

(Fast forward to 1:20 for the best quote). Doesn’t he look like a pupil who has done something wrong and is in the principal’s office?

By: d4winds

d4winds — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:13:47 +0000

In mid-November Hank Paulson pronounced the banking system sound and well-capitalized thanks to TARP on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Over the ensuing weekend the Treasury and Fed ponied up more TARP capital ($20-$25bn) and guarantees (>$300bn) for a Citigroup on the brink.

By: ken melvin

ken melvin — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:52:20 +0000

The good governors of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas can not be left of such a list as this.

By: asp

asp — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:29:21 +0000

Stephen Harper. On November 27, 2008 introduced legislation cutting government spending, in spite of promises to do the opposite in response to the economic crisis. Opposition parties rebelled, threating to remove him as PM.

So he shut down parliament.

Months later, very little stimulus spending has occurred.

By: hawk

hawk — Sun, 17 May 2009 06:16:18 +0000

The real question is whether Steinbrück believes what he says. Remember that in a double-whammy election year, he is locked not only in a grand coalition, but in a struggle with the ex-comunnist Left party. The bottom-line of the SPD’s argument is that Anglo-American capitalism is to blame for the crisis, not the lovely German “social market economy”. The SPD blasts the lack of financial regulation. You wonder, of course, where German/European regulators were when Hypo Real Estate’s Irish subsidiary went off the cliffs. Never mind that Mr. Steinbrück’s party has been holding the Finance Ministry ever since 1998, which is responsible for the regulation of the financial sector. So it may be all “It’s politics stupid”. And so far the strategy has been holding up: The left has not gained in the polls.

Politics aside, it is quite interesting how many disconnects there are: on the size of a economic stimulus, on the need for a stress test etc. I find it very interesting that Simon Johnson “too-big-to-fail-argument” hardly resonates in Germany. Commerzbank just bought Dresdner Bank (with government help), and Deutsche Bank is taking over Postbank….

By: Bayard

Bayard — Sun, 17 May 2009 06:00:09 +0000

This is the Boehner link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG4so76GN0U

By: Bayard

Bayard — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:57:42 +0000

Of course, there’s always John Boehner on This Week with George Stephanopolous regarding global warming. If this is a Republican, they need to change the party’s name to the “Tardites”.

http://asianenergy.blogspot.com/2009/05/nouriel-roubinis-rge-monitor-newsletter.html

By: Bayard

Bayard — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:44:51 +0000

I would go with almost anything Tim Geithner says. He has yet to say anything of substance. If you listen carefully, you hear lots of assuring language, basically saying nothing — he has the science of vague assurance down to a Tee. He speaks finance “wonkese” as well as anyone ever. He’s even better than Larry Summers. Specifically, though, any assuring language regarding the realism and reliability of the Stress Tests would do just fine.