He’s reading Dealbreaker and finding about upcoming layoffs (probably won’t affect him). It’s a blog with insider Wall Street gossip. Plus funny stuff about strippers. An excerpt:
By now you obviously know that CNBC is airing a special on the hooker
business tonight at 10 called "Dirty Money," as if to imply there’s
something impure about the industry. Obviously there’ll be
entertainment value to the whole thing but let’s be honest–
considering the non-existent job prospects in the financial services
field at the moment, some of you should probably consider finding
yourselves a position as a high-end street walker.
Apt. 11d 
I’d sorta forgotten how stupid and self-involved Wall Street can be. That site made me feel good about sharpening my pitchfork while everybody but your husband gets their well-deserved comeuppance.
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Hey, totally. Wait until word gets out about bonuses this year. I’m thinking there’s going to be some old fashioned tar and feathering.
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I enjoy watching my tax dollars go to pay bonuses for the industry that manages my rapidly declining retirement funds. I’m eager to pay the mortgage for people who live in much pricier houses than my own. I want to send more money to Detroit. A lifetime (except for a seriously used Audi in college) of driving American cars isn’t enough. My dearest wish is that the state of California can keep its spending level as high as it was during the height of a boom that my region never experienced.
My only fear is that the bailouts won’t be convoluted and opaque enough. If even one member of Congress, or high federal official, or UAW worker, or CEO has to lose their job because of voters start counting pennies, I’m sure the whole economy will collapse. I blindly trust Obama, the Congressional Democrats, and whatever Republicans are left to do the right thing. At this crucial juncture, we must bailout everybody richer than me (or else the economy will fail) and everybody poorer than me (or else it would be unfair).
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MH, what I really enjoy is my tax dollars going to people who earn more in one year than I will in a lifetime. That just totally warms the cockles of my heart.
Dans ce pay-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un financier pour encourager les autres, perhaps.
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Go back to the first bailout thread. I said that exact same thing.
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I was talking yesterday to one of my small business relatives who has no health-insurance and pays cash for surgeries (like his wife’s recent hysterectomy–$18,000). He is really steamed at the idea of bailing out the Big Three and paying for health insurance for their workers when he’d love to have health insurance himself.
The US taxpayer can’t bail out every large, stupid company that asks.
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I enjoy watching my tax dollars go to pay bonuses for the industry that manages my rapidly declining retirement funds. I’m eager to pay the mortgage for people who live in much pricier houses than my own. I want to send more money to Detroit. A lifetime (except for a seriously used Audi in college) of driving American cars isn’t enough. My dearest wish is that the state of California can keep its spending level as high as it was during the height of a boom that my region never experienced.
I feel so awful for renters lately. I share all of your frustrations, but at least we benefit from the bloated and counter-productive mortgage deduction.
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“I feel so awful for renters lately. I share all of your frustrations, but at least we benefit from the bloated and counter-productive mortgage deduction.”
I’m a renter, and it’s OK. If everything continues as it has so far, I expect we’ll buy a house in 18 months for 50% off, if not better. (Areas in Florida and other extreme bubble zones have already reached that, and I’ve seen houses in my hotsy-totsy target neighborhood fall 25%.)
I haven’t run the numbers, but my suspicion is that people over-weigh the value of the mortgage deduction, and deductions generally.
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Anybody who pays Pittsburgh property taxes and the wage tax shouldn’t feel guilty if they get a break elsewhere. At least that’s my attitude.
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“what I really enjoy is my tax dollars going to people who earn more in one year than I will in a lifetime”
Really, Doug, no compassion? They have really big mortgages, too. And, who will buy the $60K personalized Lego sculptures if they don’t have any money?
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PS: I don’t think the financiers or the lawyers are any more self-absorbed than academics, though. They just obsess about different things. The money guys obsess about money, while the academics obsess about getting paid to think, while picking their own hours, and topics of thought, and not having their output measured in crass commercial terms.
(that’s what I always think when I read the chronicle).
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I haven’t run the numbers, but my suspicion is that people over-weigh the value of the mortgage deduction, and deductions generally.
Oh, this is almost definitely true. (Realtors love to gush about the mortgage deduction as if it’ll offset your mortgage payment.)
It’s not only the dollar amount, though, it’s the sight of my elected representatives fighting over who can throw the most money at delinquent homeowners while acting as if I didn’t even exist — apart from my tax payments, that is — that I’d find really galling as a renter.
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