I’m participating in a discussion over at the TPMCafe Book Club on Dan Gross’s Pop! Why Bubbles are Great for the Economy. Because I’m such an environmentalist, I figured I should recycle my first post here: This book is a wonderful counterweight to the mostly finger-wagging historical literature about bubbles. The idea that irrational exuberance [...]
Here’s an interesting number, from the footnotes to Daimler Chrysler’s annual report for 2006: $18.5 billion. It’s the estimated current value of health-care benefits that Chrysler has promised its many retirees, minus the money Chrysler has set aside to pay for them. Contrast that with what private equity firm Cerberus is ponying up to take [...]
