Day: November 24, 2008

So, did today’s announcement signal “new sheriff in town”?

Guess this is the day to post questions and leave the answer for readers to add.

First, the background of President-elect Obama’s announcement of the economic team for the new administration.

Today, Vice President-Elect Biden and I are pleased to announce the nomination of four individuals who meet these criteria to lead our economic team: Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury; Lawrence Summers as the Director of our National Economic Council; Christina Romer as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors; and Melody Barnes as Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Next, a Namoi Klein post the Editilla emailed that I’ve been holding.

One thing we know for certain is that the market will react violently to any signal that there is a new sheriff in town who will impose serious regulation, invest in people and cut off the free money for corporations. In short, the markets can be relied on to vote in precisely the opposite way that Americans have just voted. (A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 60 percent of Americans strongly favor “stricter regulations on financial institutions,” while just 21 percent support aid to financial companies.)

There is no way to reconcile the public’s vote for change with the market’s foot-stomping for more of the same. Continue reading “So, did today’s announcement signal “new sheriff in town”?”

About Those State Farm Anthropologists

It’s not that I didn’t believe my source (sorry Mr Bullstroke this one remains anonymous for now) but I had to get a link to confirm what I was told.  All I can add at this point is when we can author the post on the subject, the truth will be stranger than fiction. Until then I’ll leave the link and a teaser question following the blockquote.  Reading about Ms Spears it is obvious she is blessed with great business talent which State Farm no doubt recognizes:

Spears, who worked while pursuing her degree, says that her employer was always flexible concerning class schedules.“When I needed to adjust my hours to attend a daytime class, my management made it possible.” Spears says she recently celebrated 14-years with the company. Spears also owns Spears Consulting Services, and says that she hopes to publish a book on her business strategy and apply for a grant to expand her research on the subject she began at Illinois State University. Continue reading “About Those State Farm Anthropologists”

Hartwig Drinks A big Glass of ‘Shroom Juice Kool Aid and Makes us Laugh

I saw this on the RSS feed from the National Underwriter.  IMHO Mr Hartwig (a long time industry shill) has about zero credability with the public and about that much with the new policymakers coming to DC in January. Let’s sample some of the after effects of drinking too much psyclobin mushroom laced kool aid:

“Insurers can definitely make the case that they’re much more stable [than banks] in terms of insolvencies,” said Robert P. Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, during a speech at the 20th annual Executive Conference for the Property-Casualty Industry, presented by The National Underwriter Company, with sponsors Ernst & Young and Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Mr. Hartwig pointed out that few insurers become insolvent, Continue reading “Hartwig Drinks A big Glass of ‘Shroom Juice Kool Aid and Makes us Laugh”

A Quick Note on Some Local Impacts From the Economic Crisis

Dupont has shut down it’s production lines and is stockpiling raw materials due to a lack of orders which in turn has impacted their paid headcount. Contractors are losing backlog as projects are being cancelled on the drawing board or in some instances mid-construction. Creditors such as bond sureties that contractors must use have become very strict in the extension of bond credit needed to bid most construction projects.

In short I’m seeing first hand the signs of a severe slowdown. The ride promises to be very bumpy.

sop