When I heard there was going to be a Hayek vs. Keynes rap battle, I was amused. And then I watched it, and realized it’s actually pretty good. Enjoy.

from RJ Matson, NY Observer Hat Tip: Ritholtz, The Big Picture

Just 247 days after topping $ 11 trillion and 414 days since passing the $ 10 trillion mark, America’s national debt is now above the eye-popping level of twelve trillion dollars: It’s another record-high for the U.S. National Debt which today topped the $12-trillion mark. Divided evenly among the U.S. population, it amounts to $38,974.34 [...]

When Ludwig von Mises first arrived in the United States after escaping from Nazi Europe, and pretty much up until the present day, he was essentially ignored by the mainstream economics community in the United States. It was only through the assistance of American businessmen that he was able to get a job teaching at [...]

Obama says that he won’t sign a healthcare bill that adds one dime to the deficit. I hope he’s right about that, because the people who are financing that deficit are a tad bit worried about the prospect: And yet, there was budget director Peter Orszag rushing to a lunch with Chinese bureaucrats on a [...]

From The Economist, Buttonwood (their financial op-ed analyst): This only adds to my worries about the Weekend at Bernie’s aspects of this recovery (and kudos to “Hedge fund guy” who first used the analogy). The Japanese spent much of the 1990s propping up their economy and sticking sunglasses on its face; every time they let [...]

Want a laugh? Well go back one year to this column, and ruminate on whether it could be possible for the author to be any more wrong… There have been 11 recessions since the Great Depression. And we’re nowhere close to being in the 12th one now. This isn’t just a matter of opinion. Words [...]

“Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren, America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.” — Senator Barack Obama (Ill), 2006 We need to raised the debt ceiling above $ 12 Trillion. — President Barack Obama, 2009.

Does this look to you like we’re headed out of a recession yet?

Here in California, our state decided to offer a tax credit to buyers of new housing construction. Unsurprisingly, $10K in free money gave the housing market a bit of a kick in the pants, particularly new construction. Now they’ve run out of money. And in a complete and utter coincidence, which nobody could possibly have [...]

The spike in car buying has caused automakers to ramp up production (via John Stossel): Many auto industry analysts and dealers expect sales volumes to fall now that the program is over. They worry that many people who took advantage of the program were merely accelerating purchases they would have made later in the year. [...]

Continuing his George Costanzaesque presidency, Obama has decided to reappoint Ben “Helicopter” Bernanke to another term on the Fed. Here’s what Obama had to say: Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall [...]

Congressman Jeb Hensarling nails it: H/T: Club For Growth

This morning, we learned that the Car Allowance Rebate System, known more popularly as the “Cash for Clunkers” program was running out of money after only a few days in operation: The government’s “cash for clunkers” program, aimed at boosting stagnant auto sales, is almost out of money, putting its future in question, according to [...]

At Cafe Hayek, a letter to the editor by Andy Morriss to the Wall Street Journal is posted: Holman Jenkins asks “Does Obama Want to Own the Airlines?” (Business World, July 8). I am sure he does not. Rather than own them, the president and his congressional allies want to control the airlines — a [...]

I’m at a loss. I don’t know what world can justify this, and can only hope that my readers will be just as appalled as I am, because I have nothing to add. WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testified on Thursday that he pressured Bank of America Corp. last year to go [...]

Below is the text of a letter I’ve sent to Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. H.R. 1207 (introduced by Ron Paul) and S. 604 (introduced by Bernie Sanders) is a bill that requires the Comptroller General to audit the Fed and report back to Congress within the next 18 months. Given that the only [...]

Pope Benedict XVI has decided to wade into territory which he has no understanding or expertise: the global economy. The New York Times reports that the pope is now calling for a “New World Economic Order”* VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday called for a radical rethinking of the global economy, criticizing a [...]

From Gerald O’Driscoll @ Cato, regarding “too big to fail”: The doctrine states that some banks (now financial institutions generally) are so large that their failure would incur “systemic risk” for the financial system. That sounds terrible and it is intended to. Financial services regulators and Treasury secretaries use it to frighten small children and [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, I sometimes question my allegiance to the belief that we’re in the midst of a bear market rally. Part of this is due to the constant media affinity for “green shoots”, and the fact that in many ways, the “second derivative” is actually improving… But I don’t think the fundamentals are [...]