weekend update

1-31-2010—[Nobel prize winner] Joseph Stiglitz argues that so-called too-big-to-fail banks like Citigroup are exactly that: too big. He says that they should be broken up, and that the government should regulate derivatives and discourage mortgage securitization. What’s more, he says, Americans need to get over the idea that higher taxes and more government involvement in the economy are a recipe for disaster. He points to Sweden as an example of a country that has a thriving economy but still provides its citizens with extensive social services. NYT WK4
--NYT Mag interview w/ Stiglitz: You grew up in Gary, Ind? Paul Samuelson was from Gary, Ind., too. NYT Mg 13.
1-30/31-2010—The ire directed at bankers from all sides [in Davos] is palpable, acknowledged Donald Moore, chairman of Morgan Stanley in Europe ... Asked which other gropus of people have been similarly unpopular in Davos in the past, he said: “terrorists.” WSJ A1
--Ibid.—But just as New Orleans is revving itself into a fever pitch ... the NFL is claiming ownership of the phrase “Who Dat.”