Mid-Day Reading (Nixon Helicopter Photo, May 27, 2010)

Just getting started with things.  Now thirty links.

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The European financial crisis may look and smell rather different to the American banking crisis of a couple of years ago, but strip away the details – the breakdown of the euro, the crumbling of the Spanish banking system to take just two – and what you are left with is the next leg of a global financial crisis.

Politicians temporarily "solved" the sub-prime crisis of 2007 and 2008 by nationalising billions of pounds' worth of bank debt.  While this helped reinject a little confidence into markets, the real upshot was merely to transfer that debt on to public-sector balance sheets.

This kind of card-shuffle trick has a long-established pedigree: after the dotcom bust, Alan Greenspan slashed US interest rates to (then) unprecedented lows, which helped dull the pain, but only at the cost of generating the housing bubble that fed sub-prime.   

It is not so different to the Ponzi scheme carried out by Bernard Madoff, except that unlike his hedge fund fraud, this one is being carried out in full public view.

More Detail:  UK Telegraph

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The global credit system is flashing the most serious warning signals in almost a year on triple fears of a Spanish banking crisis, escalating political risk in Asia, and a second leg to the US housing slump.

More Detail:  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

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DALAI LAMA -- Many Faiths, One Truth (NYT Editorial)

Commentary:  Does Barney Frank believe his OWN words?

Hmm, Palin’s Father Tells NYT She “Doesn’t Make The Decisions”

ROBERT REICH -- Two Reasons Why The Financial Reform Bill Will Fail

DEMS Attacking DEMS on Derivatives Proposal

Warning: Crash dead ahead. Sell. Get liquid. Now. Dow sinking below 6,470

ROBERT REICH -- The Challenge of Closing Tax Loopholes For Billionaires

'Fair Value' Proposal Could Cost Banks (As It SHOULD BE)

Issa: Sestak scandal could be Obama's 'Watergate'

OUCH -- Bond Market Taking Goldman To The Cleaners

OUTRAGE -- No Behind-Closed-Doors Deals On Wall Street Reform

Will Miami Declare Bankruptcy And Start A Nationwide Trend? (MISH)

FULD VS. DIMON -- Lehman's Sues J.P. Morgan

Debt crisis is dark cloud over Europe (FT)

Heated Argument on Rig Preceded Explosion

WATCH LIVE -- BP Might Have Stopped The Leak

All Day UPDATES on the Success (or Failure) of Top Kill

Deepwater Oil Spill - A Comparison of Flows (excellent)

Obama to Suspend Arctic Oil Drilling Until 2011

Court Challenge to Arizona Immigration Law is Likely

Will The Supreme Court Strike Down A Huge Portion Of The Healthcare Bill?

LARRY KUDLOW -- Coming This Fall: A New Tea-Party Senate Nucleus

Kentucky Libertarians: Rand Paul Is Not One Of Us

John Kerry Says Voter Anger at Washington Is Hypocritical

Why My Former Hero, Shouldn’t Be President (Older but VERY Interesting)

When Passengers Spit, NYC Bus Drivers Take Months Off (MUST READ)

SWEET ELECTRIC MOTORCYLE -- Check It Out

Scientist ‘infects himself’ with computer virus -- via implanted chip

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As always, there are many more links that I'll post in comments below.

Comments

[DailyBail]

Geithner on "Sustaining the Unsustainable"; Bill Gross, Robert Mundell say Sovereign Default Likely Inevitable

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/05/geithner-on-sustaining-unsustainable.html

[DailyBail]

Buffett to Testify to Crisis Panel on Moody's

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575269012514812910.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_business

[DailyBail]

Poll: Economists More Upbeat Despite Deficit Worries

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37311077

[DailyBail]

Obama Seeks to Trim Costs From US Spending Bills

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37311284

[DailyBail]

New financial rules might not prevent next crisis

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37303572

[DailyBail]

Is Social Security 'Sustainable'?

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/05/is-social-security-sustainable-kinda/57346/

[DailyBail]

Senate and House closer to enshrining bank bills into law

Even with disagreements to be worked, out major provisions look set in stone

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lawmakers-closer-to-making-new-bank-rules-the-law-2010-05-24

[DailyBail]

EBay's Whitman Battered by Goldman, Immigration as Lead Slides

http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-25/ebay-s-whitman-hurt-in-california-governor-s-race-by-goldman-immigration.html

[DailyBail]

For Roaming Palin, Home Base Is Still in Alaska (PROFILE)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/us/24wasilla.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

[DailyBail]

Robert Gibbs on Sarah Palin: Don’t Need A License To Get On TV And Say Anything (VIDEO)

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/robert-gibbs-on-sarah-palin-dont-need-a-license-to-get-on-tv-and-say-anything/

[DailyBail]

Here's What Dennis Kneale REALLY Thinks About CNBC, His Colleagues, And His Future At The Network

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-real-deal-about-cnbcs-dennis-kneale-2010-5

[DailyBail]

MAP OF THE DAY: How North Korean Artillery Could Level Seoul In Two Hours

http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-day-how-north-korea-could-destroy-seoul-in-two-hours-2010-5#ixzz0p9f8mQ6r

[DailyBail]

Did Shia Labeouf Help John Thomas Financial Pump InterOil?

http://seekingalpha.com/article/200267-did-shia-labeouf-help-john-thomas-financial-pump-interoil?source=yahoo

[DailyBail]

US Debt and Deficit Numbers Overlooked by the Mainstream

http://dailyreckoning.com/us-debt-and-deficit-numbers-overlooked-by-the-mainstream/

[DailyBail]

Does "Reagan conservative" Hannity think Reagan should have been impeached for reported job offer?

http://mediamatters.org/research/201005250081

[DailyBail]

Sestak Dodges Question on the WH and Quid Pro Quo

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/sestak-dodges-question-on-the-wh-and-quid-pro-quo-.html

[DailyBail]

Barney Frank wants to see Rep. Djou's birth certificate

http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/4309-barney-frank-wants-to-see-rep-djous-birth-certificate

[DailyBail]

Finally, lawmakers to hear 'Bilderberg conspiracy'

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=156861

[DailyBail]

Compared To Our Bailout, The Euro Bailout Is NOTHING

http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-debt-chart-2010-5#ixzz0p9gxOCep

[DailyBail]

Karl Rove: Joe Sestak's lying or he's protecting a felon in Barack Obama's White House

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/joe-sestak-karl-rove-chris-dodd-george-w-bush.html