Zombie Attack and Terrorist Threats

Radley Balko links to a story about a high school student, William Poole, being arrested for, as the Poole says, writing a story about zombies. Yes, zombies. A good round-up of the story can be found here. The police contend the story was much more. About how Poole wanted to start a gang called the "No Limits Soldiers" ...

Liberals Unbound

A WSJ editorial makes the most compelling case for electing John McCain, one that the campaign has barely touched upon: the need to check unalloyed liberalism. If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability ...

We Have A Crisis: Pass A Law

Problem solved. Robert Higgs looks at how the U.S. got into the ocean-shipping business and all the money that was wasted. The basic idea took shape in the midst of a "crisis". The outbreak of World War I hampered trans-oceanic shipping and this had a large impact on trade. The solution? A government program to ...

Treasury to Buy Equity in U.S. Banks

Well, it looks like what I was worried about is going to happen. The Treasury Department will be buying equity in 9 of the U.S. largest banks. What I find particularly dishonest was this line, Therefore, the Treasury had little choice but to "jawbone them into taking the money in a coordinated fashion all at the same time.” ...

Government Ownership of Banks

I heard on the radio this morning that the Treasurey Department is thinking of adopting the British rescue plan of recapitalizing banks by purchasing a majority of the shares in banks that opt into the rescue plan. Now keep in mind this is completely unconfirmed because at this point I can't find any articles anywhere that back this story ...

When Arnold Kling Gets Angry

Well I don't know if he is angry, but he sure does stick it to those who argue in favor of greater government control. I'm going to post his entire post here since I figure many will be too lazy to click through. Tyler Cowen puts a lot of the blame for the financial crisis on leverage. He links to ...

Hundreds of Billions More

Howard Glackman at the Tax Policy Center is saying his sources in the Federal Reserve and the financial industry that hundreds of billions more are needed to recapitalize financial institutions in trouble. That is the current bailout is just not going to work. Also fits well with the decline in the stock market we've been watching lately. My sources ...

What Caused Our Economic Crisis Video

This video, called "Burning Down the House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis" (although, oddly, set to the tune of "Money for Nothing") is apparently all the rage (at least in my wife's office). It traces the subprime crisis to the Jimmy Carter era Community Reinvestment Act. To the extent this view is correct (and I suspect, like anything else complex, ...

If this is the crisis everyone makes it out to be…

...why are so many politicians running around engaging in partisan politics? Lets go with Ezra Klein's take on the situation, And so the Republicans killed this bill. Without their cover, the Democrats couldn't save it, because politically, they couldn't take ownership of it. If this situation is so bad (the Dow Tanking 700 points! OMFG!). How come they ...

House Kills Bailout, Dow Drops 700 Points

Drudge reported that the Dow plunged 500 points. Something happened. I'll post more as it comes in. Update: Looks like investors are fearing the bailout will not pass. Dow down now 700 points. Update II: I've heard several unconfirmed reportst that the bailout has not passed. One that it failed in the Senate and the other that if failed in ...