SlowpokeBlog

In 2005, then-Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan played down the possibility of a nationwide housing bubble, instead opting to use the pleasant, cappuccino-evoking term “froth.” In late 2007, after the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, he exclaimed “no one expected it.” But many economists had. The main reason he figures so prominently in this cartoon, however, is that I really wanted to draw his Droopy Dog face.

While the Dems improved the stimulus package slightly over the Republican version, the food stamp and unemployment benefits they agreed to nix would have kicked in faster than the tax rebates that passed. Chalk up another victory for right-wing ideology over efficiency.

If you're feeling wonky, this Robert Kuttner testimony about the housing crisis before the House last October is perhaps the most poetic discussion of economics I've ever read.