Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 23:15 - Category: Climate change ;
So many questions to be answered here. Um, just how do the gases get into the tank and what is done with them after that? Wait. I may not want to know. The Independent has more.
Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 18:10 - Category: Credit crisis ;
On Friday during market hours, a rumor went round that Helicopter Ben Bernanke was giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac access to the discount window, which would allow them to borrow huge amounts of money.
The market rallied.
After the close, the Fed denied the rumor. But this sure was a convenient way to force a market rally. The Plunge Protection Team strikes again. My guess: they’ll spend the weekend trying to figure out how to save Fannie, Freddie, and Lehman.
And won’t succeed. Lehman is probably toast while Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee $5 trillion in debt so, while they might be too big to fail, they might also be too big to bail out.
Disclosure: I own puts on Lehman and other financials.
(Cartoon courtesy of BlueWire Studio.)
Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 16:43 - Category: Credit crisis ;
This after a run on the bank. They are the second largest bank ever to fail in the US and were up to their eyeballs in subslime mortgages. It would be criminal if the executives that destroyed this bank were allowed to walk away with any financial parachute whatsoever.
Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 13:35 - Category: Unfiled ;
Governors of New England states are seriously concerned about heating oil prices, which have doubled in a year, saying some low income households may have to choose between food or heat. They want more federal subsidies (which only helped poor families for half of winter 2008) but given the current budget deficits, one wonders if that’s possible.
Heating oil is widely used in New England for heat. When you think about it, it’s a hugely inefficient system, as it has to be trucked individually to each home rather than coming in via pipeline to the home like natural gas does. This didn’t matter as much when prices were cheap, but the heating oil companies add a premium to the spot price to deliver, and their fuel costs for trucks are soaring too.
But replacing millions of oil furnances with natural gas is not doable, so for most in New England, the choices are oil, wood (assuming they have a fireplace), or portable electric heaters (however electricity is expensive in New England.)
We lived in Connecticut for eighteen months. Heating oil was $1.96 a gallon in winter 2007. In April 2008, when we sold the house, it was $3.67. Heating oil futures today are $4.14. Even middle class people are feeling squeezed. For the poor, this is a genuine crisis, as heating even a moderately sized house with the thermostat set very low can still cost several hundred dollars a month in winter.
Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 08:26 - Category: Unfiled ;
John Robb argues that wealth distribution (to both poor and rich), corporations focused on maximizing profit above all else, and a financial system filled with bubbles and scams have effectively killed the US middle class as a driver of prosperity and growth.
What happens when the middle class realizes this? Most people don’t pay much attention to politics as long as their lives are going well. But when economic conditions sour and wages drop as prices rise, squeezing the middle class, then political turmoil is almost guaranteed.
And this could go either way - to the Left and reform or to the Right and anger at immigrants, etc.
Bob Morris @ Jul 11th 2008 02:28 - Category: Anti-war ;
The Freeway Blogger diversifies. (You can download a PDF of the graphic from his blog.) In his email to me, he said “this one’s a bit severe, but it needed to be said”. It generated quite a few comments. Some said it is too graphic and maybe a flag-draped coffin or wounded vet would be more effective. Others thought to be a fine piece of agit-prop indeed.
And if you missed it, check the video interview I did with him a few weeks ago.
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