heh heh:
Meet the Cassandras, 14 economists, bloggers, politicians and businesspeople of all political stripes who have become the most strident critics of President Obama’s stewardship of the economy . . . [I guess this means I am a bi-partisan critic]
Hard answers are in short supply. But here’s a guide to the prophets of doom. We’ve identified them, attempted to ascertain the moment when they first turned against the White House, and summarized the basic points of their critique. We’ve included economists, members of the business community, bloggers and, just for fun, two of the most anti-Obama Republicans we could dig up.
Yes, I am one of the 14:
BARRY RITHOLTZ: Author of financial blog the Big Picture; regular commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox and PBS; CEO and director of Equity Research at Fusion IQ, an online quantitative research firm. Barry Ritholtz has ridden his blog’s huge popularity to a bookstore near you. Keep your eye out for “Bailout Nation.”
Earliest critique: Jan. 29, 2009
Stimulus: Too small.
Banking plan: Will not work. Nationalization in the form of “prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization is the fastest way to fix the banking system.”
Most hurtful quote: In response to Geithner’s statement that “We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we’d like to do our best to preserve that system,” Ritholtz exploded: “No! Defending these idiots was your old gig. In the new job, you no longer work for the cretins responsible for bringing down the global economy. Please stop rationalizing their behavior, and preserving the status quo!”
My big criticism of Obama is not his policies, but his appointments of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. These two may end up being the Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld of the Obama administration.
Nice company to be in, too. Here’s the rest of the 14:
PAUL KRUGMAN:
MARTIN WOLF
SIMON JOHNSON
JIM ROGERS
NOURIEL ROUBINI
WILLEM BUITERS
GREG MANKIW
WILLIAM BLACK
DEAN BAKERRON PAUL
BARRY RITHOLTZ
YVES SMITH
JIM CRAMER
MICHELE BACHMANN
>
Source:
The prophets of doom
Andrew Leonard
Salon, Apr. 16, 2009
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/16/cassandras/index.html
See also:
10 Hot Economists
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-13/10-hot-economists/
What's been said:
Discussions found on the web: