Op-Eds
The Late Jack Dreyfus Really Roared
Jack Dreyfus, the mutual fund pioneer who died March 27at 95, was known as "the Lion of Wall Street." And for decades, the…
Op-Eds
Speak out against ‘fishing expedition’
Sir, Kudos to former ambassador Faith Whittlesey for her valid points about the Obama administration exerting “raw Goliath power” and breaching a bilateral tax agreement…
Op-Eds
Don’t Punish the Shareholders, Too
In justifying a change of policy on negotiating corporate penalties, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, stressed the…
Op-Eds
The SEC’s new chief-to-be
President-elect Barack Obama‘s choice of Mary Schapiro to head the embattled Securities…
Op-Eds
Geithner is spelled P-a-u-l-s-o-n
President-Elect Barack Obama has received surprising praise from some conservatives for his economic team. After running a successful populist campaign against Wall Street…
Op-Eds
Which Way Is Wise?
If there is one phrase to describe the events in the subprime meltdown, it is “collective stupidity.” Looking back on the poor underwriting…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Clinton Problem
Republicans had many things going against them this election, but the financial market implosion in September proved to be the final blow that…
Op-Eds
Dealing with the Threat of Global Recession
Fred L. Smith Jr. and John Berlau on the upcoming Global Economic Summit: Governments should agree to a timetable to end the bailouts.
Op-Eds
Obama vs. Clinton
Ever since the economy emerged as the top campaign issue, Barack Obama has developed two basic messages. One is that the deregulation John McCain…
Op-Eds
The Joe-the-Plumber vote is bigger than you think
Joe the Plumber did more than add some levity to the last presidential debate. Joe, aka Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio, just may have…
Op-Eds
The End of American Capitalism? 5 Short Takes on Where the Financial Crisis Might Be Headed
Five prominent economists share their thoughts on what’s happening and how bad the situation really is. The past week has seen the US economy…
Op-Eds
Accounting rules exacerbate crisis
In the year since the credit crunch began, reading the financial pages has become a bit like perusing a medical journal. Market…
Op-Eds
Doing Something
"The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse." How many times have you heard…
Op-Eds
Doing Something?
“The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse.” How many times have you heard…
Op-Eds
Fannie, Freddie Critic Ridiculed In 2000
It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the…
Op-Eds
It’s Paulson’s Own Mess
They said it was "too big to fail." This multi-billion dollar firm was now on the brink of bankruptcy. Although not a bank,…
Op-Eds
Maybe the Banks Are Just Counting Wrong
In the year since the credit crunch began, reading the financial pages has become a bit like perusing a medical journal. Market…
Op-Eds
Lehman bankruptcy: In capitalism, failure is not a dirty word
My reaction to Lehman Brothers’ declaring of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the refusal of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and…
Op-Eds
Minot Line
Over the past decade, the Internet has given new life to one of the oldest forms of media: the urban legend. Sometimes an…
Op-Eds
Oil Speculators ‘R’ Us
Those dastardly speculators! As well as oil company CEOs, traders in commodity futures have become convenient whipping boys for politicians of both…
Op-Eds
Sarbanes-Oxley Challenge Is Rooted in Law’s Flaw
Re: Jane Bryant Quinn’s column, “Accounting Cleanup Board Is Facing a Gutting’’ (July 16): In her attack on our constitutional challenge to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act…
Op-Eds
Bailing Out Kelo
Of all the unintended consequences of the housing bill that passed the House on Wednesday, the most ironic and far-reaching may be this:…
Op-Eds
Trust-Funding Fannie and Freddie
Almost every time Congress creates a "trust fund" for a certain policy issue, the money flowing into this "trust fund" is diverted to…
Op-Eds
ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties
ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties Re: “ACLU failing in defense of civil liberties at a vital time,”…
Op-Eds
Congress’s Fingerprint Fine Print
Senate passes a bill mandating the fingerprinting of real estate brokers and the creation of a national fingerprint database…
Op-Eds
Distrust Fund
It’s almost a D.C. truism that anytime Congress creates a "trust fund" for a certain policy issue, the money flowing into the…
Op-Eds
The Value of Hedge Funds
Re “The Great Seduction” (column, June 10): While David Brooks makes some good points about debt and thrift, he paints with…
Op-Eds
Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill!!!
Earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice.
Op-Eds
Bear Fire Sale Leaves Owners Without A Say
Bear Stearns shareholders, the true owners, are being denied a voice in the fate of the firm.
Op-Eds
Freedom and its Digital Discontents
Read John Berlau's closing statement in the Economist.com debate "Proposition: By intervening to regulate business and financial risks, governments have made things worse."…
Op-Eds
Freedom and its Digital Discontents
John Berlau, director of CEI's Center for Entrepreneurship, debates Sarbanes-Oxley in the Economist…
Op-Eds
The Empower Eliot Spitzer Bill
Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation yesterday because of his alleged involvement in a prostitution ring. But this is far from his real scandal.
Op-Eds
Keep Virginia market free
Perhaps more than any other state, Virginia has been a cradle for the ideas of economic liberty. From the writings of Founding Fathers such as…
Op-Eds
Romney Had a Hammer
Mitt Romney’s surprisingly decisive victory in Michigan kept him in the race for the Republican nomination, but he wasn’t the only one Tuesday night…
Op-Eds
Follies of the FHA: Another subprime idea
“How could they have been so stupid?” That's the million-dollar question being asked as mortgage defaults have increased on loans that carried much more…
Op-Eds
Bailout Blues
Op-Eds
Opposing view: Plan Hurts Future Borrowers
The government sure has a funny prescription for restoring confidence in America's credit markets. It purports to solve the nation's credit crunch — a…
Op-Eds
The Subprime FHA
After two months of economic jitters over bad lending decisions, it looks as if the credit markets may have turned a corner. The stock…
Op-Eds
Al Gore and the Mission of the Nobel Prizes
In just a few hours following publication of this article, at approximately 9AM Eastern time this morning, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce its selection…
Op-Eds
The Long Petard: The New York Times and Sarbox
Having dug itself into a hole with inept handling of the MoveOn.org ad and its aftermath, the New York Times Company may…
Op-Eds
Tax hike ahead
USA TODAY's debate on private equity taxation raised important points but overlooked a key fact (“Decoy on tax fairness,” Our view; “…
Op-Eds
Bush’s Credit Issues
In the midst of what’s called the subprime mortgage “contagion,” President Bush seems to have caught a virus of his own: Potomac paternalism syndrome.
Op-Eds
CEOs, Like Athletes, Compensated For Their Successful Performances
I am by no means a sports fanatic, but there are times I wish that typical business stories would be more like sports…
Op-Eds
Beckham bends it like a CEO
I don't get it. Where is the outrage? Politicians and pundits love to “bend it” when it comes to stoking resentment about…
Op-Eds
Al Gore’s Whine: What Really Happened on the Mall
Now it's official. Global warming alarmism has indeed “jumped the shark“, as revealed by the dismal failure of the Live Earth concerts to galvanize…
Op-Eds
Chuck Schumer Thinks You’re Stupid
In his new book, entitled “Positively American,” Chuck Schumer wants you to know that he has a vision. Yes, in between leading efforts…
Op-Eds
Rush Limbaugh for the Nobel Peace Prize
Op-Eds
Democrats: There Is Such a Thing as Too Much Regulation
As Democrats take power in Congress, speculation has swirled around the question of why Republicans lost. But there is a factor – a…
Op-Eds
The Case of the DDT Deniers
Op-Eds
Is Fairness Doctrine on Its Way Back?
This election season, much of the GOP’s difficulties stem from the disaffection of conservative talk radio. For the past two years, while supporting…