Systematic Risk, Bailouts and a New Energy Policy: Bailouts and the New Math

(Counterpunch) The US Treasury is drawing the line on taxpayer bailouts, depending if a particular supplicant is part of the economic web that represents “systemic risk”.

So, Citigroup is “too big to fail” today. Who can forget only a few years ago the experts judged gigantism to “disperse risk”, or, that the experts now evaluating what represents systemic risk also judged the late, great asset bubbles to be acceptable. A decade ago I worked at a division of Citigroup; it was the failure of a senior manager to adequately explain the risks inherent in mortgage backed securities that triggered my personal systemic risk about the retail side of wealth management.

Why Florida Can’t Let Go of Sprawl: The Suburbs March On

(Counterpunch) Some people are burying their cash in backyards. The wealthiest developers in Miami are burying their cash in a plan to build a small city in 2014 at the far western frontier of Miami-Dade County edging toward the Everglades called Parkland.

Into the headwind of the biggest crash in housing values since the Depression, the owners of Parkland are winding their way through Florida’s planning approval process. To understand how poorly the public interest is served by Florida’s growth rules, you need patience and a willingness to follow the worst forms of development through its initial stages to conclusion.

Not Dyed Blue Yet: The Hispanic Vote in South Florida

(Counterpunch) In Florida on November 4th, Barack Obama made historic inroads with the Hispanic vote. In southeastern Congressional districts, three Cuban American Republican incumbents, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart faced credible Democratic challengers; Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia, and Raul Martinez.

Sarah Palin’s Limited Engagement

(Counterpunch) The longer America listened to Sarah Palin, the less it liked her a heart beat from the presidency. The antipathy wasn’t just a matter of expensive clothing from Nordstroms or Saks. Ted Stevens, Don Young, Sarah Palin; a majority may not clearly grasp it, but American voters will continue to push back against Alaskan conservatives if and when they reach for the presidency.