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    Quote of the Day

    "You should be more conscious when you are sleeping"

    -Isabella Hatkoff  (June 2010) on the breaking a pinky promise by her dad who was a sleeping

     

    "You can't solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that created it."
    -Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

    "Give a dog a fish, feed him for a day.  Teach a dog to fish, feed him for a lifetime."

    - Walter the Farting Dog

    "Wouldn't it make more sense to read the legislation before approve you it? It's like asking the architect to design the house after it is already built."

    -Paris Hilton

     



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    Sunday
    Feb272011

    The Future of Visualization: Joy of Stats

    It's All in the Presentation!

     

    Tuesday
    Jan042011

    Xtranormal Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award Honoree on the Bernank"

    QE2 Explained

     

    Tuesday
    Jan042011

    QE2: Jon Stewart Finally Figures It Out

    Tuesday
    Jan042011

    Debtris

    Ah, The Power of the Moving Image Makes Statistics Tingle

     

     

     

    Monday
    Dec202010

    Chapter 8: Here Comes Da Judge... the State Bankruptcy Judge

    UPenn Law Professor David Skeel Queries the Wisdom of a Bankrutpcy Provision for Overburdened States....

     ...And So Does Sarah Palin

     

     


     

     

     

     

     

    Unlike Chapter 9 which applies to Cities and Municipalities there has been virtually no discussion on Wall Street, Main Street or the blogosphere about what should happen in the event of defaults by cash strapped states who are over-burdened with unfunded pension liabilities, unaffordable union contracts and enormous deficits and unsupportable bonds, lower floaters et al.
     
    Just google State Bankruptcy or any variation thereon and very little useful pops up save an interesting article done in the Nation bu a Upenn law professor who posits the hypothetical advantages of insituting a Chapter 8 (for State Bankruptcy).  Chapter 9 looks like it will have its share of busted municipalites and a fairly starightforward if arcane process.  But state don't become insolvent like municipalities who typically incur debt  for a different spectrum of undertakings.
    Professor Skeel evaluates the constitutionality of putting in place a new provision under the Federal Bankruptcy Code-- say Chapter 8-- the rest are pretty well taken already.  The only constitutional roadblock  is that there could be no involuntary filings by creditors whcih is actually quite alright in his opinion. The mere chimera or spector  of a state actually having a mechanism to renegotiate health care and insurance costs, pension benefits (say 80 cents on the dollar), general obligation bonds (say 25 cents on the dollar) and union contracts and work rules.  Pretty nifty.  Chapter 11 gives the debtor in possession the exclusive period to comeup with a plan of reorganization.  A Chapter 8 would create a path( i.e. forcing parties to the table)  similar to GM analagous to pre-packaged bankruptcy-- once you have eveyones attention.  In and out in 30 days.  Once this legacy  crap has been disaffirmed the states could again  re-enter the bond market albeit at higher pricing which would further impose discipline on the otherwise incontinent.
    As Maslow siad when your only tool is a hammer, every problem starts looking like a nail.  Skeel may have nailed this one.
    Friday
    Dec172010

    The Eel and the Alligator

    Don't Put Your Eel on My Throat

    Here is a Metaphor for the U.S. and the Rest of the World

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