economic meltdown

At Economist’s View, Mark Thoma brings up a subject no one seems to want to talk about anymore – helping people with modest incomes buy homes.
In the housing crisis, poor people — of all the likely suspects — are playing the role of scapegoats. Conservatives support the idea that the Community Reinvestment Act, an [...]

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture has an astounding followup to Matthew Blake’s coverage of Congress tearing into the rating agencies on Wednesday. As Matthew pointed out, lawmakers got into some unusually tough questioning of the CEOs of the agencies, which have come under heavy criticism for giving their stamps of approval to risky subprime [...]

Confused about the financial crisis? The rise of mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps? So, it appears, were the credit ratings agencies — the companies that rated these financial instruments.
Since the federal government didn’t have authority to regulate the secondary mortgage market, it was up to the big CRA’s, like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, [...]

When it comes to the government’s $700-billion rescue plan, it’s clear that a huge amount of money is at stake. As a result, the Treasury Dept. vowed last week to run an “open and transparent program,” so taxpayers know exactly where that money will go and how it will be used.
But as Bailoutsleuth.com explains, it’s [...]

The Starbucks Latte Index often gets cited as an indicator of whether consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending – if they give up expensive coffee drinks, the thinking goes, they’re serious about saving money.
But if you really want to know what’s going on with consumer spending on everyday necessities, the best place to find [...]

Democrats and Republicans came together for the Wall Street rescue. But as they begin deliberations on long-term reforms, both seem to be prepping for a heated partisan battle.

A troubled investment banker writes to Dear Lucy at the Financial Times to tell her about a disturbing experience recently at a dinner party. The investment banker was asked what he did for a living, and when he supplied the answer, everyone at the party turned on him. The reaction, he said, would be akin [...]

Yes, we know there’s nothing funny about the credit crunch. But via Calculated Risk, the Daily Mirror in Britain takes a crack at it anyway, with a list of top 10 jokes about the financial crisis.
A sample:
With the current market turmoil, what’s the easiest way to make a small fortune?
Start off with a large one.

It’s hard to imagine that when September began, the American people viewed McCain as an experienced leader, the steady hand, especially after coming from behind to win the GOP nomination. Now, 18 days before Election Day, he’s behind in the polls and faced with the necessity to reinvent himself as the commander everyone believed him to be when this race began.

There was no way Sen. John McCain was going to miss this appointment.
Last month, he bailed out at the last minute on appearing on David Letterman’s late-night talk show, ostensibly to fly to Washington to save America from economic collapse.  But before heading to Capitol Hill, he paid a visit to CBS’ Katie Couric and [...]