Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, which blew up during the financial crisis along with many other schemes, had been tolerated for years by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now we get a report that slams the SEC the way it is still …
It should have been an exciting event for Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy: a tête-à-tête with German Chancellor Merkel. Afterwards, he’d stand next to her, illuminated by her glory. He’d brag about implementing structural re…
Could 87% of the French Really Want A Strongman To Reestablish Order? Wolf Richter- Testosterone Pit
Americans are cynical about politicians. Congressional approval ratings were mired just above single-digit levels in 2012, hitting 10% twice. An expression of utter disdain. But the French—with their economy spiraling deeper into crisis&mdas…
Congress excels at enriching corporate welfare programs—in this case, Medicare. Ironically, it happened while Congress is struggling to rein in Medicare’s gargantuan deficits with belt-tightening measures that…
My country is hurtling toward an election that will decide its fate — whether Greeks will fight on to remain part of Europe’s core or…
By Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini We fear that the German government’s policy of doing “too little too late” risks a repeat of precisely the…
PONTIAC, Mich.—To get to city hall, you drive up I-75, past the empty Silverdome where the Detroit Lions used to play, and into a nondescript concrete municipal building. The city clerk was laid off a few days ago, but the door to her office hangs…
I wonder: Why have the Europeans figured out they are getting screwed, and we haven’t? Why are they taking to the streets en masse, while we seem to be watching our own control over our own futures slip from our hands almost as if from afar?
In Ame…
The Ally From Hell
Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional. It hates the democracy next door. It is home to both radical jihadists and a large and growing nuclear arsenal (which it f…
Inequality is back in the news, largely thanks to Occupy Wall Street, but with an assist from the Congressional Budget Office. And you know what that means: It’s time to roll out the obfuscators!
Anyone who has tracked this issue over tim…