Heard George Soros talking about his new book on NPR this morning.

Quoted: "The idea was that regulators always make mistakes, state interference in the markets just messes things up," Soros says. "And that was a false idea .... Regulators are human and bound to make mistakes, but markets are also human and they are also bound to make mistakes. Instead of markets always being right, they're actually always groping at trying to find out what the facts are. But they never get it right."

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.

"ReFave" from email

Quoted: And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Quoted: The economic story of 2007 is where the money is coming from. The capital that is propping up our companies and economy is coming from China, The Middle East, and Russia. On Monday we learned that middle east capital was required to shore up the balance sheet of Related Companies, one of NYC's largest real estate developers. Today, we learn that Morgan Stanley is getting bailed out to the tune of $5bn from China Investment Company.

2006 GDP's in 2006 dollars (i.e. not adjusted for inflation). The dollar values are calculated at market exchange rates -- so this does not take into account purchasing power.

Some interesting things:
1) The GDP of the EU exceeds that of the United States.
2) Japan and Germany are still ahead of China.
3) India's GDP (at Rank 13) is approximately 7% of that of the United States.

Quoted: This article includes a list of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. The GDP dollar estimates presented here are calculated at market or government official exchange rates.

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