Here’s a great idea from Amity Shlaes: Suggestion: Postpone the tax talk, and, instead, push the candidates on bailouts. Force them to declare whether they consider themselves to be “Austrian” or neo-Keynesian.” Let them say whether, come the next crisis, they’d wing it, à la Hank Paulson, or actually put forward a plan. Clear the… Read more

Things don’t look so good for Harrisburg PA.  Here’s what CNN has to say: The capital city Pennsylvania is broke and will be skipping this month’s multi-million dollar bond payment.On Sept. 15, Harrisburg, Pa., was scheduled to make a $3.29 million payment on the bonds it issued to build a trash plant. But, the cash-strapped… Read more

Bloomberg has a report on an IMF study.  Here is the key sentence: “The U.S. financial system remains fragile and banks subjected to additional economic stress might need as much as $76 billion in capital, according to the results of International Monetary Fund stress tests.” We at CERF have been long concerned about the strength… Read more

Today’s decline in market values, and particularly in the financial sector, has to reflect more than new employment data.  I’m thinking that market participants are coming to see that the risk of at least one  sovereign debt default is higher than previously thought.  A realistic assessment of the risks and potential impacts on the Euro,… Read more