What if credit default swaps weren’t the big problem?

The calm and and less-painful-than-expected conclusion of the big auction of Lehman Brothers’ credit default swaps has led to some talk that maybe the role of CDSes (CDSs? CDS?) in bringing on our current financial near-debacle has been wildly overblown. Making the case perhaps even more strongly is Ben Stein’s Yahoo column from last Friday, [...]

Economist Arnold Kling says don’t believe the economists

I’ve been meaning for a while to put a plug in here for Arnold Kling, who has delivered some of the most consistently provocative commentary on the financial freakout over the past couple of months. Much of Kling’s appeal has to with his possibly unique-on-this-planet combination of knowledge, experience and attitude. He’s a product of [...]