1.  World Bank Says Global Economy Will Shrink in ’09 -  EDMUND L. ANDREWS - New York Times 

2.  Obama Plan: Paul Krugman says we are falling behind  - Behind the Curve - By PAUL KRUGMAN - … Yet many economists, myself included, actually argued that the plan was too small and too cautious. The latest data confirm those worries — and suggest that the Obama administration’s economic policies are already falling behind the curve. … - NY Times Op_ed

3.  more unintended consequences - A Hiring Bind for Foreigners and Banks - By JONATHAN D. GLATER - What could be worse than graduating from an American business school this year with an interest in banking?  Being such a graduate who is not a United States citizen. A provision in the economic stimulus package limits the hiring of foreign workers by any company receiving government bailout money. In finance, that is nearly every big employer.  At least one financial institution, Bank of America, has rescinded job offers to foreign citizens, citing the new law, signed by President Obama last month. - NY Times 

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Mary is the hero America needs now - Mary, my Hero of the Week from our Saturday Entrepreneur Show -  John Rutledge Blog

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In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we talk to David Kotok of Cumberland Advisers and Bill Dunkelberg of Liberty Bell Bank of Cherry Hill, NJ, about the banking system, big banks vs. small business, and whether the systemic trumps the idiosyncratic in the halls of power in Washington.  Oh, and we propose a four-point plan to diffuse systemic risk, resolve zombie banks, liquidate toxic assets and help homeowners, and be home for dinner. 

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this is very good - FINRA Seeks Major Expansion of TRACE Reporting  -  The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is proposing a major expansion of its Trade Compliance and Reporting Engine (TRACE) to include debt issued by federal government agencies, government corporations and government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), as well as primary market transactions in new issues. Currently, TRACE reports real-time pricing and trade volume information only on corporate bonds trading in the secondary market.  - Business Wire -  Earth Times

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ICE Starts Credit-Swap Clearing to Increase Revenue - By Matthew Leising - Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the second-largest U.S. futures market, begins clearing credit- default swaps today, providing a revenue boost as futures trading volumes fall.  - Bloomberg

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good charts and excellent treatise on inflation - Decomposing the Inflation Argument - … There are consequences to perpetual inflation, however: the U.S. dollar has lost 97.8% of its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve:  … - by Rob Viglione - Freedom Factory
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The cult of fair-value accounting has turned GAAP on its head. Investors-and the economy in general-are the losers. Gary Townsend explains at bankstocks.com
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Big Oil, Big Taxes - Mark Perry - … In other words, Big Oil paid almost as much in federal income taxes in 2006 as the entire bottom half of individual U.S. taxpayers. … - Carpe Diem

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Fannie And Freddie As Permanent Wards Of The State? -  Phil Hall - …  reading a New York Times article that claimed Washington insiders have declared that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will “never fully return to private hands.” … However, the Times doesn’t appear to be kidding when it claims that “lawmakers and company executives are beginning to quietly acknowledge” that the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) will move into the future as federal agencies. I really wish they were kidding, because a future of Fannie and Freddie as permanent fixtures of the federal government will be a disaster. - MortgageOrb

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BANZAI BUFFETT: FISCAL ‘PEARL HARBOR’ MEANS 5-YEAR WAR - By DAN MANGAN - Our economy is sunk!  Legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett (right) yesterday called the fiscal crisis “an economic Pearl Harbor” -   and he doesn’t expect it to recover anytime soon. - NY Post 

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Stimulus Plus Easy Money a Significant Economic Multiplier - A new staff position paper put together by International Monetary Fund economists presses the case for more aggressive fiscal stimulus actions worldwide.  The paper, which is not official  IMF policy, uses simulations with a multi-country structural model to show that “worldwide expansionary fiscal policy combined with accommodative monetary policy can have significant multiplier effects on the world economy.” - Research Recap

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Detox for Troubled Assets - Plan Is Critical to Revive the Financial System, FDIC Chair Says - By Binyamin Appelbaum - The government’s plan to strip banks of troubled assets could force some firms to record large losses, but the painful purge would help restore confidence in the banking system, according to Sheila C. Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. - The Washington Post     

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list of 5 - Nationalization for Beginners -  …. However, different people ascribe different meanings to this word; in particular, opponents like to define nationalization as the government taking over every bank permanently and turning banking into a government service.  As I see it, there are at least five different meanings of nationalization. - The Baseline Scenario

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Speech:  Chairman Ben S. Bernanke - Financial Reform to Address Systemic Risk - FR Board

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Who’s Obama Kidding? - Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein -  … Despite the rosiest economic projections we have possibly ever seen, as well as one of the largest tax hikes in history, President Obama’s budget fails to achieve balance at any time in the next decade. The smallest deficit (at least as far as the eye can see) will be $533 billion in 2013.  … - Forbes 

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Banks and allies want ‘immediate’ fix on accounting rules - Los Angeles Times