Monthly Archives: September 2008

Sarah Palin: Minxy Vixen?

Palin, Previous Blog: Sense and Nonsense

I’ve studiously avoided commenting on anything about Sarah Palin other than her monumental ignorance.  We’ll leave commentary about other things to others. 

See Tom Perrotta, who says that Palin is a "sexy Puritan" — a "powerful new Christian Right archetype."  And he asks: "What could that mean for America?"  Good lord.  I don’t think I want to know!   

And for those of you who are "visual learners," there’s this video of her earlier pageantry:

The Debate

Election 2008, Previous Blog: Sense and Nonsense

I haven’t anything to add to the better observations that have already been made about the debate.  I believe that, on balance, Obama came out of it better off because the principal terrain of the debate — foreign policy — is supposedly McCain’s strong suit, but he was not obviously superior to Obama in discussing any of this.  Moreover, Obama succeeded in the important task of presenting himself as measured, temperate, informed, thoughtful, and presidential.   And he made no errors of the sort that badly hurt debaters in the past (Bush I, looking at his watch; Gore, sighing audibly and repeatedly; etc.).  McCain, on the other hand, hurt himself badly with his physical presentation of self and with his inability to bring himself to look, even once, directly at Obama.  McCain came across as churlish, angry, impatient, condescending, and contemptuous.  Debate goes to Obama.

For smarter and more nuanced analysis, see Fallows. 

UPDATE: Less smart, but more fun, is this analysis.  And speaking of McCain’s appearance, there’s this interesting fact about how much he pays to have makeup applied to his face each time he appears before a crowd.

UPDATE II:  And, oh yes, there’s always the primatological perspective.

UPDATE III:  Or the ultra-generational perspective.

Peggy Noonan on Hope

American Politics, American Society, Previous Blog: Sense and Nonsense

I know there are people out there who love to mock Peggy Noonan (the folks at Wonkette, for example).  But, as I’ve said before, I think she’s one of the finest writers around.  Her weekly column appears in the Saturday Wall Street Journal.  Today, in addition to her column, she has a longer essay — "A Hope for America" — that’s worth reading.  It’s adapted from her new book Patriotic Grace, to be released next week.

More on Credit Markets

Economic Affairs, Previous Blog: Sense and Nonsense

Maybe many of you know much more than I about our financial system.  But if you’re at all like me, you’re struggling each day to educate yourself more about how all this works. 

The news yesterday was that the credit markets appeared frozen.  Here are three items that help to explain what that means, both technically and practically.

Here’s an excerpt from an article by Michael Grynbaum on the front page of Friday’s New York Times business section:

Nervous investors stayed on the sidelines on Thursday, awaiting
signs of progress on the government’s bailout. While stocks rose, the
anxiety gripping the credit markets barely abated.

Banks
continued to hoard cash, clogging crucial financial arteries that
deliver money to businesses and consumers for car loans, credit cards
and payroll payments.

Investors appeared to be taking a defensive
posture as they waited for lawmakers in Washington to determine the
final structure of the government’s plan. Interest rates on short-term
loans jumped back toward the record levels seen at the end of last
week, although the yields on Treasury bills slightly rose.

“These
moves are having extraordinary negative impacts on the brick-and-mortar
level of the U.S. economy,” said T. J. Marta, a fixed-income strategist
at Royal Bank of Canada. “We’re not talking about highfalutin, fat-cat Wall Streeters. This is
whether or not your local hospital gets the new wing put on.”

While
swings in the stock market can affect Americans’ investments and mutual
funds, the credit market is considered the front line of the day-to-day
functioning of the economy. Businesses depend on short-term loans to
pay for basic costs like electric utilities and employee salaries.

“This
is the engine room of the U.S. economy,” Mr. Marta said. “It’s not very
sexy, it’s kind of esoteric, nobody ever pays attention to it, but
that’s what’s breaking.”

On Thursday, this was the type of
critical short-term financing — including markets for commercial paper,
municipal bonds and overnight bank loans — that was gumming up.

Banks,
apparently stocking up amid the worst financial crisis in decades, were
reluctant to lend cash, sending interest rates soaring.

I like that metaphor of the credit markets as the "engine room of the U.S. economy."  Helpful.  Right next to Grynbaum’s article in the Times was another, this one by Michael J. de la Merced, looking at how the credit squeeze affects individual companies, such as Pilgrim’s Pride, the big poultry company. Very illuminating. [Also see this article from Friday’s Wall Street Journal.]

Finally, on NPR’s "All Things Considered" program yesterday evening, there was an excellent report that similarly brought the practical implications of this crisis home in a particularly clear way.  You owe it to yourself to listen to this, if you didn’t hear it Friday.  [Click on the "Listen Now" link at the NPR site.  The text is different from the audio link, so listen to the audio.]

Credit Markets Seize Up

American Government, Economic Affairs, Previous Blog: Sense and Nonsense

Yes, it’s a serious situation, as Joe Nocera explains in his (fine, as usual) "Talking Business" column in today’s Times.

I understand his argument: time is of the essence, because market psychology means the situation grows more dire with each day of delay.  But if there are alternative plans floating out there that are clearly preferable to the proposed bailout (Nocera cites Andrew Feldstein’s proposal to have taxpayers buy an equity stake in only "good assets"), then surely an extra day or two should be taken to vet that idea and build a coalition behind it.

The risk here is a total seizing up of the credit markets.  More delay runs the risk of a severe recession.  Yes.  But I submit we’re headed there in any case. Let’s not make the situation even worse by acting impulsively and stupidly. The Bush Administration has shown us the error of that way.