The market would do that anyway...if you let it.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed Thursday to put failing banks that take too much risk "out of existence" in order to avoid bailing out firms deemed "too big to fail" at taxpayers' expense.

"Our view is that we need to make sure that you're limiting how big they can get and how risky that they can get," Geithner told ABC News as the US Congress pursues negotiations on a sweeping financial reform bill.

"But if, in the future, if they mess up and they take themselves to the edge of the cliff again, then we want to make sure we can put them out of existence, dismember them, break them up safely without the American taxpayer having to bail them out again."

(link)

Government tells banks, we will bail you out if you're too risky, what do the banks do? Surprise surprise, they're more risky.  Now the Federal Governement is going to do what the market would do anyway...why?  To control WHICH banks fail!

This is called crony capitalism. Couple this with what's going on with Goldman Sachs right now, and it's clear.

The Volcano

The Icelandic Volcano is putting so much ash into the air that it closed UK airports for 6 days (necessarily?). What will we see first, a report about how this type of pollution is OK, because it's "natural", or a report showing the environmental impact of the eruption?

A little science...

UPDATE: Looks like both at the same time...

Intro

The purpose of this blog is 3 fold...

I am in a master’s economics program here in Northern Virginia. I felt the need to do the obvious, write about the news and ideas that I see or have out there. My professors do it, my classmates do it, everyone does it, I'm behind, and so now so do I.

Second, I'm reading a lot of interesting stuff, and I'm going to use this as a repository for some of them. This mostly for myself, if you don't like it, whatever, don't read. You're not anyone anyway because no one is reading this anyhow.

Third, has to do with the title, Thought Intrusion. I get weird thoughts sometimes. They're strange, sometimes disturbing - well mostly disturbing - but most of all un-invited. I did some light research on it, it's a real thing, according to the internet, but it tells me to just breathe, and it will pass. This has helped, but I also thought it would help to maybe get some of the other thoughts out there, to just get them down on paper...the web? Lord help us...

That reminds me, this about sums what I think I should do instead: http://bit.ly/cfT9TL

That's about it, I hope that this will be more of a shoot from the hip type of place, so if I say something that doesn't make sense at first, I hope that it will develop it over time as I think about things. Having said that, I hope I don't waffle, and I will try my best not to do so.

Thanks, and welcome.