The Greek and European debt crisis has thrown a spotlight on the credit ratings of entire nations. From the blog Credit Writedowns, here’s a list of all S&P sovereign credit ratings, from AAA to junk. These ratings will in large part determine the rate of interest countries pay to investors who loan them money via [...]

MIT economist Simon Johnson writes on the blog The Baseline Scenario that the European debt downgrades of the last two days constitute a genuine crisis: Wake the President Most days we can coast along, confident that tomorrow will be much like yesterday. On a very few days we need to look hard at the news [...]

This Wikipedia entry on Arizona’s anti-immigration law might answer some questions people have about what the exact language of the law mandates. Law Provisions The law makes it a state misdemeanor crime for anyone to be unable to prove lawful residence in the United States upon being asked to provide such proof pursuant to a [...]

A Flagstaff, Arizona citizen argues that the state’s new anti-immigration law, requiring law enforcement authorities to determine the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, does not go far enough. From elephantjournal.com: Is it just me or has Arizona Immigration Law SB 1070 not gone far enough? If the Arizona police [...]

Last week, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania said it won’t make a scheduled bond payment of $425,282 due on May 1st. Some commentary: Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis I do not like Munis here. For starters, I think there will be a number of counties in Florida that go bankrupt. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (the state capitol) is likely to [...]

Chart from the World Economic Forum: Global Risk Landscape 2010, showing the likelihood of specific risks (terrorism, infectious disease, food price volatility, etc.) with corresponding severity of economic loss. Also look at this “Risks Interconnection Map,” which shows “an overview of all risks and their interconnections.” It’s a little hard to understand but looks like [...]

According to this chart from Visual Economics, there are 1.65 trillion pennies in circulation. That’s messed up.

One of the sticking points in enacting the financial reform bill stuck in the Senate is the creation of a new consumer financial protection agency, which Republicans have ardently opposed.

This post from the financial sector policy blog Finance: Facts and Follies summarizes the dismantling of consumer protections in the mortgage and credit card industries in the 2000s.

Many of the steps violating unsophisticated consumers’ protections against predatory lending came from a cascade of federal, not state, regulatory actions and legislation.

“In fact, I believe that the elites have so mistreated the American people that we should declare that a state of war exists between America and Washington.” Former Federal Reserve economist and economics professor Arnold Kling doesn’t like the new health care law. From The Daily Caller: Health care bill woke a sleeping giant For [...]

A California voter initiative to legalize marijuana has officially qualified for the November ballot. From the web site Ballotpedia: Supporters of legalization are focusing on the benefits they say would flow to the state from taxing marijuana; when marijuana is illegal, it is not taxed. If it was legal, the government would be able to [...]