The president’s address on jobs last night included some soaring phrases, but it left out one crucial word that epitomizes his approach to economics: Solyndra.

Except it isn’t. The Solyndra story encapsulates a much bigger issue than mere crony capitalism, bad as that is. Because Solyndra is not alone. The Obama administration has sunk billions into loan guarantees for dozens of other renewable-energy companies as well.Complete column @ http://reason.com/archives/2011/09/09/obamas-crony-capitalism

The book shop has moved to a new, larger location, with ample parking available
Effective May 16, 2012, the new address is
Renaissance Bookshop
3772 Elizabeth Street (half block east of Magnolia)
Riverside, CA 92506

Phone # (951) 369-8843 renbook@earthlink.net

Constitutionalist Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy, is planning to hold hearings about the Federal Reserve’s bailouts of foreign-owned banks during the economic crisis.

The Fed was recently forced by the Supreme Court to hand over details and documents related to its “emergency” bailouts through the discount window, a facility which provides cash for banks that can’t find it on the open market. On March 31, following years of litigation and appeals, the central bank finally released the records.

“What I had suspected is now confirmed — the Fed gave money to foreign banks during and since the crisis of 2008,” Rep. Paul said in a statement released on April 2. “I was surprised and deeply disturbed, however, to learn the staggering amount of money that went to foreign banks.”

But there are still a lot of questions. And Rep. Paul wants answers.

Reuters reported over the weekend that his spokeswoman Rachel Mills confirmed that the Congressman would be holding a hearing into the Fed’s discount-window lending to foreign banks. Details are still being worked out, but the hearing should take place sometime in May.

Complete report by Alex Newman of The New American @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/economics-mainmenu-44/6976-rep-paul-plans-hearing-on-feds-foreign-bailouts

“As the Treasury Department official in charge of the TARP is saying at a congressional hearing this morning [2], the bailout won’t cost anywhere near the full $700 billion Congress authorized. In fact, many of its investments have turned a profit, and some of its most infamous bailouts — such as the rescue of AIG — won’t end up being the tax dollar black holes [3] they once seemed sure to be.”

“But the true picture isn’t so rosy.”

“At ProPublica, we’ve provided a comprehensive bailout database [4] since TARP’s launch. It shows not only how much money has gone to each recipient [4], but how much each has paid in interest and dividend payments. With all this data, we’re able to clearly show how deep in the hole the program remains [5]. And the answer as of today is $123 billion.”

“Add that to the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which our site also tracks and is separate from the TARP — and taxpayers are $257 billion in the hole [5].”

Full expose @ http://www.propublica.org/article/behind-administration-spin-bailout-still-123-billion-in-the-red

“But there are at least five reasons why neither India nor China will knock America off its economic perch anytime soon, at least not by the only measure that matters: Offering the best life to the most people.”

America wastes no talent

“Conventional wisdom holds that America’s global competitiveness is driven by geniuses flocking to its shores and producing breathtaking inventions. But America’s real genius lies not in tapping just genius — but every scrap of talent up and down the scale.”

Full commentary on America vs Asia by Shikha Dalmia @ http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/02/24/022411-opinions-column-americandream-dalmia-1-2/

“The Federal Reserve System was created by an act of Congress only in 1913. It then presided over a great wartime inflation followed by a major depression in 1920-21. The 1920s were an era of prosperity, due as much to Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon’s wise fiscal policies as anything the Fed did. The Fed’s performance in the Great Depression was disastrous, a judgment shared by its current chairman, Ben Bernanke.”

“The Canadian banking system weathered the Great Depression without a central bank. Instead of the thousands of small, undiversified banks that the United States had, Canada had a small number of banks (with many branches across the country) that were able withstand localized downturns. Even in the Great Depression, banking failures in the U.S. were concentrated in specific regions. Canada’s central bank, the Bank of Canada, was created in 1935 in part because of pressure from the rest of the world. Canada had survived without it quite well.”

“In short, central banking has been neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of a modern economy and financial system.”

Full column by Cato Senior Fellow Gerald O’Driscoll @ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12613

“Talk about being called ugly by a frog.”

“The Chinese official specifically was referring to the Federal Reserve’s decision to pump $600 billion of extra liquidity into the economy. But instead of being called “QE2,” this new bout of quantitative easing should be called the “Titanic.” ”

Daniel Mitchell looks at how President Obama policy of tax, borrow and spend @ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12554

“For more than a decade, Microsoft went about its business, developing software, selling it to customers, and — happily, legally — making money. Then in 1995, after repeated assaults by the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Microsoft broke down and started playing the Beltway game — defensively at first.”

“Washington politicians and journalists sneered at Microsoft’s initial political innocence. A congressional aide said, “They don’t want to play the D.C. game, that’s clear, and they’ve gotten away with it so far. The problem is, in the long run they won’t be able to.” ”

Full commentary on how government preys on businss by David Boaz @ http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11972

“Under an agreement organized between the two governments last year, the neutral alpine nation famous for its banking secrecy was supposed to divulge the names associated with about 4,500 accounts suspected of sheltering money from the Internal Revenue Service. But a Swiss judge blocked the disclosure because it violated national banking laws.”

Full column on Swiss Banks vs the IRS by Alex Newman @ http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/3798-us-terrorizes-switzerland-over-taxes-banking

“While these figures are dramatic, they pale in comparison to what the federal government owes foreign and domestic investors….”

Full column on our pending doom by Veronique de Rugy @ http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/11/our-unsustainable-debt