Quoted: The dollar is in a tailspin, the trade deficit is growing and a recession is on the horizon. The American way of life is in serious danger. But the head of the Federal Reserve keeps on pumping easy credit into the system -- a crazy policy that will worsen the crisis.

Quoted: I think this is basically a good idea. If the government is going to bail out the people trading with Bear Stearns in an effort to calm the markets, then they might as well go right to the source of the poison and clean up the mortgage mess. But it has to be done right. And I think that insuring the mortgages instead of buying them, as was done in the depression, is an idea with some merit.

Regarding stock options and their impact on organizational behavior...

Quoted: The authors, two economists, Gerard Sanders and Donald Hambrick, observe that options create asymmetric incentives: they pay out when a firm’s share price rises above the option exercise price, but once they fall below the exercise price, all further falls make no difference to the ultimate payout, which is nothing. This, posit the authors, gives an incentive to take big bets, by investing in risky activities with long odds on a high pay-off.

Quoted: A generation has prospered from the wholesale transfer of risk through securitisation. Now it is paying the price

Oh dubya...

Quoted: Pressed on the issue, Mr. Bush said, "You need to talk to an economist."
...
"I think I got a 'B' in Econ 101, but I got an 'A' in not raising taxes," he said.

redotted from seregine: Interesting article about achieving high quality of life without economic expansion.

Quoted: One state in India is proving development experts wrong