Reenita's Wisdom

Although we have been glued to the news these past few weeks, I am cognizant of the fact that the exact sequence of development with regard to the financial crisis is not a hundred percent clear to everyone.

In an effort to demystify the code, I recently put together a laypersons’ blogpost for Inspired Economist. Check it out to understand exactly how America went from mortgage to bailout:

From Mortgage to Bailout: How Did The Problem Arise?

I am not sure whether to laugh or to cry about the fact that with everything going on in the world, CNN has nothing better to do than report on Asif Ali Zardari’s flirtation with Sarah Palin.

Pakistan’s president tells Palin she is ‘gorgeous’ is the the headline on CNN’s article this afternoon.

Come on folks, call me a cynic but surely we have some serious news to tell: the financial crisis, the Fed’s bailout plan, the new threat to global warming, India’s brand new biofuels policy.….as if that is not enough?

The fact that both of them are grinning from ear to ear goes to show that obviously flirting with each other is more interesting to Palin and Zardari than the idea of flirting with political policy.

America…I agree that I would like to see a woman in office but if you are serious, how about I line up a bunch of soccer moms from the local school district?

As the world continues to be shaken up by horror stories on Wall Street, it might be worth taking a few steps back to consider your immediate quality of life.

SustainLane, a San Francisco based green media company has just announced its brand new U.S. city rankings. Starting in 2005, SustainLane went through an exorbitant examination of sustainability initiatives in U.S. cities looking at a variety of factors: average traffic commutes, affordable housing, waste diversion, green space, energy usage, green buildings, natural disaster risk, air quality, water quality, public transportation, local food sources, and government innovations. James Elsen, the founder of SustainLane explains it in his article What’s A Sustainable City, Anyway ? [...]

The beginnings of another new economy are taking shape as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs prepare to close the curtain on investment banking.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, making it one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.

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In view of the current Wall Street crisis, America’s credibility as a bastion of free markets has come under the radar. The Fed’s recent bailout of AIG, Fannie and Freddie are perceived by many as a free market detour.

The government’s latest bailout news involves a plan to make the biggest intervention in the financial markets since the 1930s. Central to this plan would be a mechanism to bad assets off the balance sheets of financial companies or instead perhaps to create a federal insurance for investors in the money market funds. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to propose a temporary ban on short selling financial stocks.

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