Long but fascinating: How Bernie Madoff pulled off his massive swindle – James Bandler and Nicholas Varchaver – almost like a biography - Fortune Yahoo.com

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interesting – Renouncing the Debt – John Mason –

There are three ways to get out of a debt crisis.
First, you can work off the debt, but this takes a long time
The second method is to inflate or reflate yourself out of the nominal debt burden you have created.
The third way to reduce the burden of your debt is to repudiate the debt.
MASE: ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

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interesting idea – fear of government makes banks hold more cash – Some banks stuff the mattress – By Colin Barr – … “At this point, the marginal value of $1 is worth much more in passing the stress test than being lent out,” said Eric Falkenstein, a former bank executive and hedge fund manager. “Until the Fed/Treasury stops threatening the banks with imminent dilution based on some unarticulated capital sufficiency test, it would be foolish to lend more money.” … – Fortune

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The Housing Boom and Bust – by Thomas Sowell - In the spirit of bipartisanship, my newest book– “The Housing Boom and Bust”– shows how both Democrats and Republicans ruined both the housing markets and the financial markets. – Capitalism.com