Friday, September 20, 2013

Today in the Financial Crisis, Saturday September 20, 2008: Music to Hunt Bankers By

By that first weekend I was crabby and in need of sleep.
I'll be back with more on Secretary Paulson's unprecedented grab for dictatorial powers, I think I did a book review of Machiavelli's Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius on the Roman approach to dictators (I know you're all atingle) but for now there's just the 9:08 a.m. reference to it.

Here's what we were posting, it was pretty light:
6:03 a.m.
American Taxpayer on the Hook for $1 Trillion of Banks Non-, Mis- and Malfeasance. Plus: Music to Hunt Bankers By
 It appears there will be a decade long wealth transfer from savers to bankers. To reliquify the big banks balance sheets, the powers that be will let the banks borrow cheap from the Fed or at artificially low shorter term rates, then turn around and lend at higher rates to the Treasury. There is probably a carbon trading angle here too*. You just watch.

Letter to Dodd
...I understand you need the GSE's to reliquify the system fast, before the public realizes that the emperors actually have no clothes, and start hunting bankers for sport, but when do we say enough is enough?...
Here's the rondo from Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2.
Music to hunt bankers by....
5:47 p.m.
On the Trillion Dollar Bailout: "That is not exactly an odd lot transaction..."
We say Across the Curve get's the the prestigious Climateer Line of the Day Award.
(although their deference to the AP's lowball $700 Bil. figure made the voting closer than it should have been)

First runner-up, from "How Can You Think About Wall Street When Business Dispute Tearing Olsen Twins Apart?":
“Ashley really wants to be a respected businesswoman and be taken seriously,”...
I'm learning more and more about our readers....
7:29 p.m.
Hank Paulson and Section Eight- Crazy on You
9:08 p.m.
Climateer Investing Readers are Scary Smart
We have received a lot of emails in the last few days on recent events in the financial markets. Some very bright people with some very interesting insights. Here's one example. In the post immediately below, I point out the coincidence of section 8 of the WWII Army regulations covering the discharge for being crazy and section 8 of Secretary Paulson's proposed bailout plan:
 Sec. 8. Review
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
-Text of Draft Proposal for Bailout Plan, NYT 20Sep08
Finally, Music to Hunt Bankers By, the rondo from Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2: