FreedomTalks

One of the things that makes Ezra Klein such an effective liberal advocate is that he’s policy-smart and spin-smart. In other words: He knows what he’s talking about and how to shape effective messages using what he knows. So he can dive into wonk shop-talk on one hand and deploy with tough rhetorical maneuvers on [...]

Over at the Atlantic, Megan McArdle predicts that more regulation is certainly in store for the financial sector — but isn’t sure it’ll do much good:
[T]he broad demands for “stricter scrutiny” and “more transparency” are meaningless…
The problem is not transparency but complexity: The value of the securities was as opaque to those who held them [...]

Oh boy.
The government on Wednesday relaxed capital requirements at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a plan to inject an additional $200 billion of financing for home loans.
…It was the third step the government has taken in recent weeks to allow Washington-based Fannie and McLean, Va.-based Freddie to shoulder larger burdens in the [...]

Matt Yglesias writes:
The “world in numbers” for our current print issue is a nifty map of the overtaxed highway infrastructure in our major urban areas. Under the circumstances, the case for more transportation infrastructure is compelling, but it’s worth underscoring the fact that you’re never going to have anything more than a very temporary solution [...]

Yesterday, I taped an episode of Bloggingheads with American Prospect staff writer Ezra Klein. The whole thing is here, but FT readers might be interested in the following bit in which I talk about how John McCain might smooth out his sometimes rocky relationship with the conservative movement:
There’s more about McCain and economics, William F. [...]

Ooops!
For this bill Mr. Reid decided to ignore the normal vetting of committee hearings and markups, and it shows. Democrats laud the $200 million in the bill for credit counseling, but the actual language of the bill directs $200 billion to something called the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. We trust this error [...]

Here’s James Pethokoukis on Obama’s economics:
What is the economic philosophy of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama? I will elaborate on this later, but for now, think of it this way: He’s Robert Rubin on trade (pretty much keep it open but help workers), Warren Buffett on taxes (higher rates really don’t affect what rich folks do, [...]

Virginia blog Leesburg Tomorrow is complaining about FreedomWorks’ support for payday lenders in Virginia.
[I]n effect it is the special interests of payday lenders who are out to take away your financial livelihood. Remember, this is an industry which has made up to $5,000 on a $300 loan off of a low-income warehouse worker, thanks to [...]

I’ve got to run to a briefing, but the quick version is this:
Conservatives and free marketers have many disagreements with McCain, and they’re right to. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Lieberman, the votes against the Bush tax cuts — these are not exactly small matters. But what he said today should get some attention from advocates of limited-government.
On [...]

I think George Will hits pretty much exactly the right note today in his column on sovereign wealth funds.
Many countries exporting oil, toys or underwear to America are running trade surpluses. These countries need to do something with their dollars — it is better that they invest them than buy weapons with them — [...]