Tag: Financial Meltdown
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R.I.P., President Obama’s Honeymoon
It’s been a while since I’ve updated the Honeymoon-Over Watch. According to David J. Rothkopf at Foreign Policy, this should be the last update needed: Mark it on your calendars. It was in June 2009 that Barack Obama’s honeymoon officially ended. And to be more specific, it was this past week. Through some mysterious alchemy, […]
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Better Pass It Quickly — Someone Might Read It!
Once again the Democrats in Congress are trying to push through a hugely expensive and controversial bill that nobody — literally nobody — has read. In February, as Congressional leaders and the Obama Administration were twisting arms to gather the votes they needed for the $800 zillion porkulus bill, I wrote this: When listening to […]
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Wanna Buy GM Stock? Better Hurry, the Price is Rising!
As you may have heard, General Motors, once the world’s largest company by market capitalization, is bankrupt. You and I, along with 300 million of our closest friends, are going to end up owning about 70% of a much-smaller General Motors. Congratulations. In this morning’s Washington Post, George Will has a good column worrying about […]
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One of These Things Is Not Like the Others
Think of this chart (from Donald Marron, via Greg Mankiw) the next time you hear someone say that we are in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Based on GDP, it appears we’re in the worst downturn since 1958 — and since I was born that year, I reject the idea that it […]
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Obama’s Intimidation Trumps Fiduciary Duty
The group of secured lenders who were holding out for fair treatment in the Chrysler bankruptcy has disbanded, after two more defections in the face of pressure from the Arm-Twister in Chief. “After a great deal of soul-searching and quite frankly agony, Chrysler’s non-TARP lenders concluded they just don’t have the critical mass to withstand […]
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When Obama Says “Hedge Fund,” Think “Widows and Orphans”
At least one of Chrysler’s “secured” lenders is vowing to stand fast against President Obama’s efforts to bully the lenders into abdicating their fiduciary responsibility. NEW YORK (Reuters) – Plans for a quick sale of Chrysler to a new company majority-owned by a union-aligned trust is “patently illegal” and will be fought in bankruptcy court, […]
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Why Would Anyone Invest In Chrysler Now?
President Obama’s ham-handed ultimatum to Chrysler’s “secured” creditors promises to have adverse consequences beyond just rewarding the UAW for helping to drive the company into the ground.  At Real Clear Markets, Bill Frezza asks some excellent questions: Why would anyone lend money to heavily unionized companies knowing that if things went wrong, the president and […]
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Chrysler’s New Majority Owner Will Be The UAW. Yeah, That’ll Work.
I’ve been arguing for months that the government should not throw more bailout money at GM and Chrysler, but rather let them work out their problems in bankruptcy court. Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection would give the companies more leverage to modify gold-plated benefits and ruinous work rules that add approximately $2,000 in costs […]
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Obama’s Not-So-Invisible Hand
Now that the Automaker-in-Chief has fired the CEO of General Motors and instructed Chrysler to sell itself to Fiat by the end of April, he’s turning his attention to a variety of other essential American industries, from blue jeans (“Levis yes; Wrangler no”) to toothpaste to ballpoint pens. President Obama also graciously acknowledged the important […]
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Slouching Towards Europe: Obama’s Domestic Agenda Undercuts American Exceptionalism
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by President Obama’s steadfastness regarding national security issues. After winning his party’s nomination by promising to surrender in Iraq more quickly than the other Democrats would, Obama has: retained his predecessor’s defense secretary; adopted his predecessor’s timetable for responsible disengagement in Iraq; supported his own rhetoric about the importance of Afghanistan […]