Only So Long I Can Hold My Tongue

Adam Levitin posted a great piece on Credit Slips ripping on proposed "solutions" for the financial crisis (And yes, kiddies, regardless of the pablum they're shoveling your way, we're still in a crisis.). Basically, he compares these proposals to prescribing an aspirin to someone with a knife in his chest and then giving the aspirin to the attacker. First comment out of the box blames the mess on those evil, nasty borrowers. To quote the Interweb meme, "Don't know if trolling or just stupid." Probably a shill, actually. Anyway, I and a few others declared a free-fire zone. Enjoy.

They Were the First

We now have a state capitol in Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Harrisburg, PA has filed for protection. I guess wealth has become less common in the Commonwealth. The city fathers took one look at revenue projections and saw they would never cover bond payments. Translation: Local economic activity is not generating enough revenue to cover local infrastructure costs. This is a severe problem. And to divert ourselves from it, we can start speculating which municipalities will be next. Cities failing puts strains on counties; counties failing puts strains on states. And then of course there are schools, utilities, transportation districts, etc. And on top of that, what happens when the Chapter 9 plans start cutting masses of employees, and the ones still employed find their pay and benefits drastically cut? Suddenly those public sinecures aren't looking so secure.