Over the last several years, we have experienced many changes in our media, from the consolidation of ownership to the rise of YouTube. There is a new proposal under consideration in the FCC regarding unbundling of cable channels that has implications in channel ownership and minority representation. In what seems par for public issues these days, there are accusations that "grass roots" opposition is actually funded by industry interests.
This article in the Financial Times doesn't get to the bottom of the situation but it does add some clarity to the issues and it reveals some of the players.
A la carte has promise but only if the menu offers enough choice.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Subprime Mess
Well it's hard to miss the news coverage about the subprime problem. I'm not sure if it's a "crisis" yet or not but there have been a couple of good articles lately. The first is an article in the New York Times that looks at Countrywide Financial Corporation and how it was a major player in the run up to where we are today.
The second is a commentary by Lawrence Summers in the Financial Times that presents some "vital questions" we should be asking regarding how we respond to this issue. The title, "This is where Fannie and Freddie step in", gives a hint at where Mr. Summers leans but the questions are educational in themselves.
I posed a question about to my money manager and got the following bit of information:
All combined, these give me a healthy respect for the problem.
The second is a commentary by Lawrence Summers in the Financial Times that presents some "vital questions" we should be asking regarding how we respond to this issue. The title, "This is where Fannie and Freddie step in", gives a hint at where Mr. Summers leans but the questions are educational in themselves.
I posed a question about to my money manager and got the following bit of information:
Pimco bond managers were in here today and noted
$1 trillion in mortgages will be reset in next 24 months,
or 20% of mortgage market, with increases in [the]
200 bp to 300 bp range.
All combined, these give me a healthy respect for the problem.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Diplomatic Surge
Below is a link to an op-ed contribution to the Sunday, August 19, 2007 edition of the New York Times titled "The War as We Saw It" by BUDDHIKA JAYAMAHA, WESLEY D. SMITH, JEREMY ROEBUCK, OMAR MORA, EDWARD SANDMEIER, YANCE T. GRAY and JEREMY A. MURPHY.
What is significant about this piece is that these men are still actively serving in the US military and were still deployed in Iraq when they wrote it. This raises some obvious issues about active members of the military making political comments and I think that is an important dialog to have. Irrespective of that point, I believe these men -- with their boots on the ground -- provide important insight and perspective on the situation in Iraq.
Whether you want us to surge on or wind down in Iraq, I think we should consider what these men have to say based on their personal experiences.
What is significant about this piece is that these men are still actively serving in the US military and were still deployed in Iraq when they wrote it. This raises some obvious issues about active members of the military making political comments and I think that is an important dialog to have. Irrespective of that point, I believe these men -- with their boots on the ground -- provide important insight and perspective on the situation in Iraq.
Whether you want us to surge on or wind down in Iraq, I think we should consider what these men have to say based on their personal experiences.
Investigating the I-Word
"You are seeing impeachment as a constitutional crisis. Impeachment is the cure for a constitutional crisis. Don't mistake the medicine for the disease." -- John Nichols
I recently watched John Nichols (liberal) and Bruce Fein (conservative) present a case on Bill Moyer's Journal why America should impeach both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney to protect our form of governance. Note that this argument has very little to do with the Iraq war and everything to do with the balance of power.
I had shied away from considering impeachment as I thought it was a distraction and unnecessary with an election so close. However, Fein and Nichols present a very compelling argument and I am now reconsidering my position.
Anyone who looks at this as a liberal vs. conservative or Republican vs. Democrat issue is, in my mind, missing the point. The issue is the power that is being vested into the executive and that power is as likely, if not more, to be wielded next term by a Democrat as a Republican. The argument, as I understand it, is that unless Congress acts now to check this power-shift, the precedent will be set. We should not expect the next President to give them back saying "I don't need these powers to do my job."
You can watch the August 10, 2007 episode of Bill Moyer's Journal online on PBS' website and it is also available as a podcast on iTunes. Here's a quick excerpt via youTube.
Fein is part of a conservative group (including Reaganites and NRA board members) fighting the usurpation of power by the executive branch called the American Freedom Agenda. I recommend that readers of this blog take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with their 10-Point American Freedom Agenda.
My hat is off to Bill Moyer's who still shows us how journalism can still investigate and inform.
I recently watched John Nichols (liberal) and Bruce Fein (conservative) present a case on Bill Moyer's Journal why America should impeach both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney to protect our form of governance. Note that this argument has very little to do with the Iraq war and everything to do with the balance of power.
I had shied away from considering impeachment as I thought it was a distraction and unnecessary with an election so close. However, Fein and Nichols present a very compelling argument and I am now reconsidering my position.
Anyone who looks at this as a liberal vs. conservative or Republican vs. Democrat issue is, in my mind, missing the point. The issue is the power that is being vested into the executive and that power is as likely, if not more, to be wielded next term by a Democrat as a Republican. The argument, as I understand it, is that unless Congress acts now to check this power-shift, the precedent will be set. We should not expect the next President to give them back saying "I don't need these powers to do my job."
You can watch the August 10, 2007 episode of Bill Moyer's Journal online on PBS' website and it is also available as a podcast on iTunes. Here's a quick excerpt via youTube.
Fein is part of a conservative group (including Reaganites and NRA board members) fighting the usurpation of power by the executive branch called the American Freedom Agenda. I recommend that readers of this blog take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with their 10-Point American Freedom Agenda.
My hat is off to Bill Moyer's who still shows us how journalism can still investigate and inform.
Thomas Friedman on Charlie Rose
On August 16, 2007 Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, was on Charlie Rose (PBS) and I thought it was an interview worth watching. During the hour-long interview, Rose asks Friedman to comment on three main topics:
1) The paperback edition of The World is Flat and is the outlook optimistic or pessimistic?
2) The Iraq war and whether Friedman wants to apologize for supporting it.
3) Global Warming.
Whatever one thinks of Friedman, I respect his opinion. His outlook about free trade is tempered an understanding to create social structures that facilitate our workforce (e.g. portable pensions). While I don't necessary agree with his position on the Iraq war, he probably has the pro-position most reserving of respect. (NB: I respect his position, I don't support it.) Finally, he understands that for there to be real progress on reducing carbon emissions, the government needs to play a role.
Like him or not, he is one writer/reporter who seems to take the time to scratch beneath the surface.
You can watch and buy the episode on Charlie Rose's website. I certainly think it's worth an hour of my time.
1) The paperback edition of The World is Flat and is the outlook optimistic or pessimistic?
2) The Iraq war and whether Friedman wants to apologize for supporting it.
3) Global Warming.
Whatever one thinks of Friedman, I respect his opinion. His outlook about free trade is tempered an understanding to create social structures that facilitate our workforce (e.g. portable pensions). While I don't necessary agree with his position on the Iraq war, he probably has the pro-position most reserving of respect. (NB: I respect his position, I don't support it.) Finally, he understands that for there to be real progress on reducing carbon emissions, the government needs to play a role.
Like him or not, he is one writer/reporter who seems to take the time to scratch beneath the surface.
You can watch and buy the episode on Charlie Rose's website. I certainly think it's worth an hour of my time.
Foreclosure Statistics
There are two issues about the current "sub-prime" mortgage market "crisis", for lack of a better word, that I think are worth investigating separately.
The first is the underlying statistical data. I have heard many numbers passed around and newscasters, reporters and pundits are referring to various data points in what appears to me to be imprecise terms. In my mind, there is one important question about this data: How many of these foreclosures are single-home owners and how many are not and thus likely to be investors (aka speculators)? It seems to me this should be an important distinction to make in terms of policy decisions.
The second issue is how these numbers are affecting the credit markets and how are our financial experts dissecting the data? Are they questioning and vetting the data or is fear ruling the day?
In this light, I think Elizabeth Rhodes of The Seattle Times raises a some important points in her article "Numbers from foreclosure statistics company questioned". I encourage you to read it and share any other articles that might take a more critical look as these numbers people are so easily reciting.
I would like to see more of our news media looking at the underlying numbers before they start citing some of these numbers as fact.
Who's doing the hard work?
The first is the underlying statistical data. I have heard many numbers passed around and newscasters, reporters and pundits are referring to various data points in what appears to me to be imprecise terms. In my mind, there is one important question about this data: How many of these foreclosures are single-home owners and how many are not and thus likely to be investors (aka speculators)? It seems to me this should be an important distinction to make in terms of policy decisions.
The second issue is how these numbers are affecting the credit markets and how are our financial experts dissecting the data? Are they questioning and vetting the data or is fear ruling the day?
In this light, I think Elizabeth Rhodes of The Seattle Times raises a some important points in her article "Numbers from foreclosure statistics company questioned". I encourage you to read it and share any other articles that might take a more critical look as these numbers people are so easily reciting.
I would like to see more of our news media looking at the underlying numbers before they start citing some of these numbers as fact.
Who's doing the hard work?
A trail of crumbs
This blog is mostly for my friends and associates so I can facilitate awareness of bits of news that we think are noteworthy. I might post links to news reports, interviews or commentary that I have (or someone I know and trust has) found to be worth reading or watching.
The motivation for this is my belief that, generally speaking, the mass media, in their efforts to attract and maintain ratings, have compromised their mission to inform their audiences in other than superficial ways. In various outlets, one can still find pockets of diligent, probing journalism that investigates the deeper layers of a story but these seem to be the exceptional cases. As someone who invests 2-5 hours per day, 4-6 days a week digesting news, I hope that I can help shine a light on items (via this blog) that seem to deserve our attention.
Finally, why did I call this "News Crumbs"? In my mind I had the mental picture of a news story expressed as a forest of information and disinformation. Our news reports and analyses are often colored with spin and imprecise reporting. However, if one listens to enough voices, it is sometimes possible to discern an underlying and valuable thread that may not be immediately obvious. Metaphorically, I thought of a thread like this as a trail of bread crumbs through this forest and thus the name "News Crumbs" was born.
As of this writing, I also intend to make this blog available via FeedBlitz.
C. Scott
The motivation for this is my belief that, generally speaking, the mass media, in their efforts to attract and maintain ratings, have compromised their mission to inform their audiences in other than superficial ways. In various outlets, one can still find pockets of diligent, probing journalism that investigates the deeper layers of a story but these seem to be the exceptional cases. As someone who invests 2-5 hours per day, 4-6 days a week digesting news, I hope that I can help shine a light on items (via this blog) that seem to deserve our attention.
Finally, why did I call this "News Crumbs"? In my mind I had the mental picture of a news story expressed as a forest of information and disinformation. Our news reports and analyses are often colored with spin and imprecise reporting. However, if one listens to enough voices, it is sometimes possible to discern an underlying and valuable thread that may not be immediately obvious. Metaphorically, I thought of a thread like this as a trail of bread crumbs through this forest and thus the name "News Crumbs" was born.
As of this writing, I also intend to make this blog available via FeedBlitz.
C. Scott
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