Minnesota Senate race:  Mixed news. No idea who is ahead.  I suppose it is better for Franken who was clearly behind in the last few months.  But Rasmussen could be an outlier to be ignored. 

Rasmussen. 7/10. MoE 4.5%. (6/11 numbers in parentheses)

Franken  (D) 44 (45)
Coleman  (R) 42 (48)

SurveyUSA. 7/11-13. MoE 4.5%. (6/10-12 numbers in parentheses)

Coleman  (R) 52 (52)
Franken  (D) 39 (40)

Baltimore Sun

July 15, 2008

Not Their Fault: Regulators Failed Fannie, Freddie; Now Congress Needs to Step Up

by Peter Morici

Last week, share prices for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell drastically on concerns they may lack adequate capital to cover mounting losses from defaulting loans.

Fannie and Freddie hold or guarantee about half the home mortgages in the United States, and if investor worries were to cause these enterprises not to be able to sell bonds to finance new mortgages, the U.S. economy could be cast into the worst crisis since the Great Depression. To avoid that, the government needs to take a more active role - fast - in stabilizing these essential institutions.

The following article, The Death of Reaganomics, written by E.J. Dionne, appeared July 10,2008 at http://www.truthout.org/article/the-death-reaganomics

Rangel was embarassed by disclosures that he has four rent-controlled apartments in New York City - Harlem to be exact.  Most people are lucky... very, very, very, lucky... to get one.  If you have one, it is your primary residence.  Rangel used one as a campaign office.

He just gave up his rent-stabilized campaign office.

There is a new budding story of Rangel soliciting donations from corporations with business before his committee.  Donations for a project in New York State which bears his name.  The Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York, for which Rangel achieved earmark funding.

Cross Posted from the CPA Official Website.

CPA, through today's Issues Forum, is releasing two new reports on currency misalignment.  Collectively, the reports answer these questions:

1.   How do you measure currency misalignment?

2.   What difference does it make?

The first, Estimation of the Fundamental Misalignment of the Chinese Renminbi by the China Currency Coalition, describes the most reliable way to calculate Asian currency misalignment today.  Using the same methods adopted by the International Monetary Fund, the report finds that the Chinese Renminbi is undervalued by 35%.

The second report, authored by Charles Blum and Donna Tung of IAS Group, is entitled "Appreciation of the Renminbi: What's Happened -- And What Hasn't".  The document outlines the impact of the undervaluation to answer the "Why does it matter?" question. 

"While remnimbi has been allowed to appreciate modestly since 2005, that revaluation has been grossly inadequate,"  Charles Blum, CPA board member, said.  "This undervaluation poses real risks to the world economic system." 

The debate about China.  People are uncomfortable with the focus on China.   

Get over your discomfort.  Clear away the philosophical cobwebs.  Look at the math and look at the intent. 

China is the single biggest source of our trade deficit, and our outsourcing.  If it was some other country, I would talk about that country.  But it is not another country.  It is China.  So says the math.  People here lose jobs.  People you know.  People I know.

As to intent.  The Chinese spying is hitting the front page.  It is not the third tier papers from China.  It is not a few whistleblowers hastily shut up.  

[Joel F. Brenner, the top U.S. counterintellingence official] described China’s information-gathering efforts as “a full-court press and relentless.” As a result, he said, few professional analysts “really think that what’s going on is anything other than an orchestrated, deeply thought-out, strategic campaign.”