Salon – John R. Talbott is a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs and the author of "The 86 Biggest Lies on Wall Street," "Contagion," "Obamanomics," and "The Coming Crash in the Housing Market."

Simon Johnson, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is the co-founder of the Baseline Scenario, a Web site tracking the ongoing financial crisis. He is one of the most visible public commentators on the ongoing financial crisis and its causes.

From June to July of 2009, Talbott and Johnson held an e-mail conversation on the following topic:

Read Complete Article

Tags: baseline scenario, chief-economist, co founder, commentators, contagion, crash, e mail, financial crisis, goldman-sachs, housing-market, international monetary fund, international monetary fund imf, investment-banker, john r talbott, simon johnson, wall street

Middle East Online – Can a Hedge-Fund Island Lose Its Shirt and Gain Its Soul?

In December, reports surfaced that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pushed his Wall Street bailout package by suggesting that, without it, civil unrest in the United States might grow so dangerous that martial law would have to be declared. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned of the same risk of riots, wherever the global economy was hurting. What really worried them wasn’t,

Read Complete Article

Tags: bailout package, civil unrest, dominique strauss kahn, global-economy, henry-paulson, international monetary fund, international monetary fund imf, managing director, martial law, middle-east, riots, risk, treasury secretary henry paulson, wall street