Stiglitz: European austerity like 'medieval medicine'

Remember that austerity is exactly what the US Republicans are also promoting. They're oblivious to the downside of austerity and even pretend as though downsides are non-existent. Meanwhile in Europe, we're seeing the UK drift back into recession and the austerity program is only now kicking in. There will be a lot of economic pain in 2012.

"The answer, even though they see over and over again that austerity leads to collapse of the economy, the answer over and over [from politicians] is more austerity," said Mr Stiglitz to the Asian Financial Forum, a gathering of over 2,000 finance professionals, businessmen and government officials in Hong Kong. "It reminds me of medieval medicine," he said. "It is like blood-letting, where you took blood out of a patient because the theory was that there were bad humours. "And very often, when you took the blood out, the patient got sicker. The response then was more blood-letting until the patient very nearly died. What is happening in Europe is a mutual suicide pact," he said.

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Italian cruise ship captain 'slipped and fell into lifeboat'

Did his dog also eat the charts that explained how dangerous the waters are, which is why they weren't on the planned route?

The cruise-liner captain accused of abandoning ship after it struck rocks off the Tuscan coast last Friday has reportedly claimed he could not lead the evacuation because he slipped and fell into a lifeboat while helping passengers leave the stricken vessel. Captain Francesco Schettino said it was an accident that he left the Costa Concordia, according to Italian press reports. "The passengers were pouring on to the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault," he was quoted as telling a judge during a hearing to determine whether he should be held in custody on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship. "I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60-70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat," Schettino said.

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Feds make more insider trading arrests, but still no Wall Street crash arrests

It's good to be da' king. Thank goodness the Feds are going after something valued at $62 million rather than the billions and trillions associated with the Wall Street crash of 2008. Distractions appear to be the preferred choice rather than the more serious problems. It hasn't gone unnoticed that the small houses are the ones who get hit rather than the household names that the country knows from the bailouts.

A press conference will be held Wednesday to announce charges against seven investment professionals who participated in an insider trading scheme that allegedly netted more than $61.8 million in illegal profits based on trades of a single stock. Some arrests have already taken place. Todd Newman, who once headed technology trading for Diamondback Capital Management was arrested in Boston this morning. Newman was placed on a leave of absence in 2010 and subsequently let go by that firm.

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Court evicts OccupyLSX in London

The High Court in London has ruled that the Occupy Camp at St Pauls Cathedral has to go. The camp is one of three in London and was the first to be established. It is the site of the Tent City University.

It seems that a compromise proposal that would have had tents present during the day but removed at night has also been rejected. The judge, Mr Justice Lindblom, refused permission to appeal which means that the protestors now have to persuade the Court of Appeal to hear their appeal. We have not yet had sight of the judgment but reports from the hearing suggest that the loss was comprehensive.

The protestors were represented by John Cooper QC (@John_Cooper_QC on twitter - well worth following for insight and updates).

The streets have not been filled with angry members of the public mustering in support of the protestors. Active support for the camp seems to have dwindled as the progress of the protest meandered towards simply finding ways to sustain its presence. For some, the camp has achieved its aim: establishing a debate. Others were more ambitious in terms of aims and are more disappointed as a result.

Elsewhere, a permanent protest encampment in Parliament Square has been removed, again with nothing more than a shrug from the British public. Read the rest of this post...

We’re blacking the site out today to protest SOPA/PIPA

Back tonight at midnight. Read the rest of this post...

Turkish media calls Rick Perry an 'idiot'

Tell us what we don't already know.

Turkey is "a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists," Perry said, in response to a question about whether Turkey, a top American ally, should remain a member of the NATO alliance. The NATO ally had moved "far away" from the strict secular tenets that governed it when he served there in the 1970s as a U.S. Air Force pilot. "Rick Perry: what an idiot," was the reaction from top Turkish Hurriyet Daily News columnist Mustafa Akyol on Twitter, according to CNN's Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert.

If ever there was a US politician who would know something about being an extremist (a Christian extremist in Perry's case) it would be Rick Perry. Read the rest of this post...

World Bank warns of 2008-09 repeat for global economy

When you look at the problems in Europe plus the slowing economy in China, it does look likely that this year will be a struggle. If this happens, will the political class finally wake up and make real adjustments or will it be more window dressing as we saw after the 2008 crisis? Until they feel the pressure from voters, few changes should be expected.

In its half-yearly health check on the global economy the Washington-based institution said the world had "entered a very difficult phase characterised by significant downside risks and fragility". The bank lowered its forecast for global growth in 2012 from 3.4% to 2.5% but said governments should be preparing for a downturn as bad as that which followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. "An escalation of the crisis would spare no one," said Andrew Burns, manager of global macroeconomics at the World bank and the report's author. "Developed and developing country growth rates could fall by as much or more than in 2008-09. The importance of contingency planning cannot be stressed enough. It is clear that whatever probability is attached to this downside scenario, it has increased since June last year. "Developing countries should hope for the best and plan for the worst. If these downside risks materialised there is not much developing countries can do to prevent it. But they can prepare for it." He added that such countries should be drawing up list of public spending priorities and stress testing their banks.

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An essential SOPA–PIPA video

We've talked about this before (mainly here), but it bears repeating on this day of SOPA & PIPA darkness.

Again, go here for the supplemental text should you want it. But if all you want is a nice video that explains it all, this is a good one. Enjoy.



H/T Digby for the reminder. For another nice SOPA–PIPA video, this time from the Guardian, click here.

By the way, you'll notice that Google has "gone black" for the day, but only in the sense that they're wearing a black armband, as it were. Imagine if they were actually, well, closed. As in "come back tomorrow — after you've complained to your friendly SOPA and PIPA supporters."

What's the over-under on how fast these bills would be withdrawn? That's blackmail, of course, but hey, a business has a right to shut its doors. (Or maybe that's just "playing to win." You do want to win, don't you folks?)

Oh, did I forget to mention that "progressive" Al Franken is a PIPA co-sponsor? Yep, surprised me too. Perhaps you can tell him how surprised you are as well. I'm sure he doesn't want to fund-raise without that precious "Wellstone" branding:

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
DC ph: 202-224-5641
District ph: 651-221-1016

Or if you like, you can tell the whole lot of them. (Search on "cosponsor" and be prepared for a few surprises.)

Occupy the Darkness, at least for the day.

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Obama to say no to Keystone pipeline today

GOP messed that one up. From the LA Times:

The Obama administration has decided that it will not issue a permit before Feb. 21 for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, according to people with knowledge of the decision.
The announcement, which could come as early as this afternoon, comes in response to a 60-day deadline Congress imposed in late December on the decision-making process for the permit, in exchange for extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for two months.

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Video: SOPA for dummies

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