Tuesday's Lunchtime Viewing

Yglesias: Simon Johnson is Making Sense Simon Johnson’s appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air” is very informative on the case for nationalization of failing financial institutions, and what that would entail. He makes the point based on his IMF experience that this is what the IMF—and, indeed, the U.S. government—would be recommending were this occurring in some other country.

Aravosis: Consensus of 51 forecasters: US economy to finally rebound 2nd half of 2009

Finally some good news.

"Consumer spending and residential investment are expected to turn positive and begin boosting GDP growth in the third quarter of this year," the newsletter Blue Chip Economic Indicators said, summarizing its survey of private economists.

The consensus of the 51 forecasters surveyed looks for U.S. gross domestic product to tumble at a sharp 5.3 percent annual rate in the first quarter and to decline at a 2 percent pace in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, however, economists expect the economy to expand at a 0.5 percent rate, followed by a 1.8 percent fourth-quarter gain.

Now, that doesn't mean all will be rosy by summer. ... We just need to make sure that any such turnaround in GDP growth isn't used by Republicans to kill any future stimulus, or other legislation, needed to ensure our full recovery.

Bernanke, via NYT: In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Mr. Bernanke said the financial system needed to be regulated “as a whole, in a holistic way” and that stricter oversight of banks would not be enough to guard against future crises. “Strong and effective regulation and supervision of banking institutions, although necessary for reducing systemic risk, are not sufficient by themselves to achieve this aim,” Mr. Bernanke said. ... Even as the Fed and other central banks scramble to rebuild confidence in the financial system and free up credit, Mr. Bernanke said that policymakers needed to look ahead to long-term changes in the financial system. Mr. Bernanke said that policymakers also needed to examine the problem of institutions deemed “too big to fail” because of the role they played in the broader system. Huge institutions like Citigroup and the insurer American International Group have received billions in bailout aid as the government sought to ward off a collapse in the financial system. “In the present crisis, the too-big-to-fail issue has emerged as an enormous problem,” Mr. Bernanke said. Specifically, he called for “especially close” oversight of firms whose collapse would pose a systemic threat ....


Maddow's terrific, nuanced interview with former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes, who is very much on the ground in Afghanistan.

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Sarah Chayes Arghand. Arghand was founded in May 2005, by Sarah Chayes, a former National Public Radio reporter who stayed behind in Afghanistan to help rebuild the war-torn country.

"...from the desires of those villagers in Arghandab, the idea of Arghand was born: an effort to add value to Kandahar's legendary fruit crops, to transform them into something stable and light, suitable for export. Even the name, Arghand, comes from Arghandab, that leafy district. "Arghand," in Persian, means "triumphant" or "conquering," and "ob" means "water." The district is named for its river, and we adopted the first part of its name..."

180 volt tap water.
Iraq whistleblower speaks out March 9: Rachel Maddow is joined by former KBR electrician Debbie Crawford about the electrical errors she saw while working in Iraq.

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