A CT scan of a McDonald’s Filet O’Fish sandwich. [via Radiology Art]
Out of Good Options for Detroit. When G.M. and Chrysler asked for billions of dollars in government money last week, they argued that it would ultimately cheaper for taxpayers than if they filed for bankrutcy. But the Obama administration is looking into letting the automakers file for bankruptcy, but said that the efforts to line up a loan — which would be the largest bankruptcy loan ever — is just the administration performing “due diligence.” There’s no guarantee that either route will fix Detroit’s serious problems and keep it from failing. But if it does fail, it would pretty much mean the economic devastation of the entire Midwest. Good times. (Related: One of the House Republicans who represents suburban Detroit defends his opposition to the stimulus.)
And a $2.50 ATM Surcharge The government mulls taking a 40% stake in Citigroup.
The Heartbeat Grows Fainter. The company that owns the Inquirer and the Daily News, my hometown papers, is going to file for bankruptcy. Sigh.
The Man Behind the Stimulus. You may have seen John Maynard Keynes ‘ name pop up a lot since the economy went in the toilet. The recently passed stimulus package was based on his theory that governments can spend their way out of downturns. Liberal economists like Paul Krugman point to the U.S. economy after the New Deal/WWII as proof that it worked. Conservative ones like Tyler Cowen aren’t so sure. This American Life gives a typically brisk, sharp intro to Keynes (smart, weird, kind of a dickhead) and explains why his ideas still spawn so much disagreement all these decades later. (For the more advanced economists out there, you should holler at/follow Eric’s blogging over at Edge of the West.)
Can I Get a …From Ryan Lizza’svery good New Yorker piece on Rahm Emmanuel: “He is a political John McEnroe, known for both his mercurial temperament and his tactical brilliance. In the same conversation, he can be wonkish and thoughtful, blunt and profane. (When Emanuel was a teen-ager, he lost half of his right middle finger, after cutting it on a meat slicer—an accident, Obama once joked, that rendered him practically mute.’)”
G.D.
Latest posts by G.D. (see all)
- Random Midday Hotness: Desiigner Freestyle. - June 24, 2016
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- Random Midday Hotness: No One Matches His Practical, Tactical Brilliance. - May 10, 2016
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Grump