Monday, March 29, 2010

Brad DeLong's Diagnosis

Brad DeLong has mastered the technique of the petty, ad hominem attack.

His latest attack is on Mario Rizzo, whom I don't know, but wish I did (in contrast to Brad DeLong).

At any rate, as long as Brad is practicing pop/shlock psychology, there's another diagnosis I think he should look at. The part I think applies the most to Brad is this.
Treatment for this disorder is very rarely sought. There is a limited amount of insight into the symptoms, and the negative consequences are often blamed on society. In this sense, treatment options are limited. Some research has found long term insight oriented therapy to be effective, but getting the individual to commit to this treatment is a major obstacle.

Good luck with that, Brad.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Question Is...

Moody's was so slow to downgrade the ratings of subprime CDOs, does this mean that the United States Government is already no longer a AAA credit?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=a8c_1vtVGzD8

Of more importance to me, if the 3-mo T-bill rate is no longer the risk-free rate, what do I use to calculate a Sharpe ratio?

Freedom's Last Stand

OK, the title of this post is a little overwrought, but not by much. If Pelosi/Reid/Obama/Axelrod/Emanuel/Soros/Moulitas/Sullivan can pass this bill using this method, then they can pass anything. They can do to the United States what the Bolsheviks did to Russia.