Assorted Links (8/20/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:   

FASB’s Tort Bar Gift – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal editorial board on the accounting group’s proposal to require companies disclose the potential costs of litigation.”

Alex Epstein: Obama Follows Nixon on Oil Spill – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Alex Epstein writes that when it comes to handling oil spills, Barack Obama most resembles Richard Nixon.”

The Avastin Mugging – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the FDA rigs the verdict against the breast cancer drug Avastin. ”

Jeremy Siegel and Jeremy Schwartz: The Great American Bond Bubble – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Jeremy Siegel and Jeremy Schwartz write in The Wall Street Journal that today’s bond bubble resemble the tech bubble a decade ago. If 10-year interest rates, which are now 2.8%, rise to 4% as they did last spring, bondholders will suffer a capital loss more than three times the current yield. ”

Dogs for Everyone? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“New research shows that, in addition to being man’s best friend, dogs improve productivity in the office.”

The Government Mortgage Subsidy, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

econlog.econlib.org

“ABC News quotes PIMCO’s Bill Gross. ‘Without government guarantees, mortgage rates would be hundreds — hundreds of basis points higher, resulting in a moribund housing market for years.’… What Gross is saying might be true if you are an unqualified borrower buying a house with little or no money down. But once upon a time we had a mortgage market in which borrowers with documented income and assets took out loans for 90 percent or less of the price of the house they were buying…”

Boaz on Media Bias, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

econlog.econlib.org

“[M]ainstream (liberal) media regularly put an ideological label on conservative and libertarian organizations and interviewees, but not on liberal and leftist groups…”

Jeffrey Miron » Blog Archive » A Government Role in the Mortgage Market?

jeffreymiron.com

“Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, kicking off a half-day conference on housing finance, said Tuesday that it was important for the federal government to continue guaranteeing mortgage loans.”