My cynicism knows no bounds!

David Merkel provides a good link list, even if his postulates could use a little work once in a while. I agree with David that China may be imitating Japan of the 1980s, bringing online a huge capacity for which they will never find sufficient market. The only difference may be a possible creation of an internal market for the Product, though this is an impossibility unless and until China can find a way to raise internal Wages in the traditional Production sectors. I believe that the U.S. Dollar will lose its appeal as a World Currency, but no one Specie has the depth to replace the Dollar; the later backed by years of practice. China always fails the Test of Progress, although American commentary has asserted that there would be vast change in China, going back as far as the Opium Wars. China, like Iraq and Iran, still gets entangled in the personal corruption of their own decayed cultures; a circumstance where society long developed the path of personal corruption, and such corruption allowed the only permanent familial gain. Americans always fail in the Export of American values, and always wind up with a sense of betrayal although it is only common Native business practice.

This Washington Post article worried that Congress almost cited Henry Paulson for twisting Ken Lewis’ arm to get Bank of America to take over Merill Lynch, whereby both Concerns seem to have made money. They did not see the true drama of the Day, where Paulson was almost cited for Contempt, for playing with his microphone. Leaning forward and backwards in your chair must be as bad as talking to your classmates during Tests. The aftermath of the debacle will be that Everyone will make more Money than they should, now that they have been cited for being impolite by Congress. I bet that Bernie Madoff would treasure the rigors of testifying before Congress. Still, We must press on!

Arnold Kling will teach you the elements of Economics, even if he cannot tell you exactly what happened in the financial crisis. I actually enjoy his first Question the most, knowing that the excess Cash flow of the non-Tax years of Bushism injected a bubble everywhere it turned. It was only a game of Musical Chairs to determine which bubble would burst first. His third Question remains the pertinent element; to wit, What would have happened with no Bailout? It is what I think should have happened. The Threat level existed only in the minds of the Big Bonus boys, later transferred to Congress; Americans have survived multiple Hard Times, and more than once having to re-Start the Banking system. Bank Management simply managed to keep their Jobs, by Government paying about 200 times their own proclaimed worth. I have never witnessed a place where exchange rate regulation ever affected capital flows, but Arnold might know something I don’t (Please don’t say probably, I feel sufficiently outclassed as it is). I also would ask what a ‘systemic risk’ regulator could possibly look like which could not be sidestepped–I imagine a passing similarity to Congressional legislation. lgl