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Hedge Fund Mania
Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update this week focuses on the “exotic, complex, and at times scary world of 21st Century finance.” Thredgold notes that, “Domestic and global financial market developments of recent weeks have sharply raised anxiety levels about the use of aggressive debt financing, the use of private equity to ‘do deals,’ and the use of extremely complex credit derivative products to ‘spread the risk”’ around. Such anxiety is likely to rise further as additional news of weakened or failed hedge funds and postponed financing deals is released. We do not see these issues leading to U.S. recession.”
Washington Watch
Get Tougher on Trade: Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Max Baucus (D-Montana) have unveiled legislation to beef up enforcement of U.S. trade agreements and laws against unfair foreign trade practices.
Today in Political History
August 2, 1923: Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, dies in San Francisco. Calvin Coolidge succeeds him in office. (Source: NBC5)
August 2, 1939: The Hatch Act is passed by Congress, barring federal employees from taking an active role in political campaigns.
August 2, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait, causing an international crisis. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy.”
-- Paul Sweeney (Source: Quote Garden)
Salt Lake County Trivia
-- 764 square miles
-- 910,000 residents
-- Median household income $50,604
-- Average annual income $26,340
-- 23.8% population growth 1990-2000
-- Fertility rate: 2.65%
-- 1,191 population density (people per square mile)
National Politics
Barack Obama, trying to take a tough stand against terror, said he might be willing to send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists -- even without permission from that country’s government. The LA Times has this good summary. Fox News reports on the natural response: Democratic Opponents Slam Barack Obama For Speech on Pakistan.
Washington Post on earmarks: A former congressman and lobbyist are in prison because of earmark abuses, the Senate's senior Republican is under federal investigation regarding earmarks, and President Bush has called for their end… Yet they are more popular than ever.
Wall Street Journal looks at the landmark ethics and lobbying reform bill that is poised to clear Congress this week, after Republican critics conceded they lack the votes to block action in the Senate.
Blog Watch
-- Democracy For Utah quotes mayoral candidate Ralph Becker's Blueprint for a Green City. Summary: "Salt Lake City can be one of America's leading green cities. In fact, Salt Lake City has the potential to be the greenest city in America."
-- At Utah Politics, Richard Markosian argues for educational vouchers, saying school problems stem from factors including school board apathy and reluctance to change the status quo.
- Out of Context reports on exchanges between officials debating the east-side secession from the Granite and Jordan school districts: "What's telling about the two analogies is that both ended in war."
Lighter Side
Best of Late Night Humor
Jay Leno: It seems the little tiff between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has really heated up since their last argument at the last Democratic debate. They have become distant. They barely speak to each other now. When they do speak, it’s really icy. As Hillary calls that, “marriage.” ... More bad news today for John McCain. His media team has resigned. But McCain says he intends to stay in the race, according to the campaign’s new media spokesman, John McCain. ... A panel investigating NASA found a heavy use of alcohol by astronauts before launches. In at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly while so intoxicated that they actually posed a health risk. Maybe that’s why they call it the Kennedy Space Center. ... They said today on one mission, the astronauts were so drunk they were actually wearing their diapers on their heads. ... According to a study by The New England Journal of Medicine, obesity can be “socially contagious.” That means the more time you spend hanging around heavy people, the more likely you will become fat. Obesity can be contagious? Do you believe that? Hey, if it was contagious Clinton would have contracted it years ago. He would way 1,100 pounds now. |
