Quote of the day: Paul Krugman.

[elfs]

Paul Krugman:

Gingrich Said to Be Paid at Least $1.6 Million by Freddie Mac: The thing I think people find hard to wrap their minds around is the following non-contradiction:

1. Freddie Mac was a deeply corrupt institution
2. Freddie and Fannie did not cause the financial crisis

These are not opposing statements. Those of us attacking the Big Lie about the financial crisis are not defending Freddie.

That said, as a believer in the importance of the humanities, I do have to appreciate Freddie's appreciation for the uses of historians. At least, that's what Gingrich says he was paid for.

But remember kids, all of the following countries are experiencing housing market failures not because the banks got reckless with your money, or because government regulators were so captured by the institutions they were assigned to regulated they failed to intervene in the recklessness. Nope. Belgium, Spain, the UK, Ireland, Austria, France and Italy are all in recovery mode following a tragic passive government failure because a U.S. Senator from Massachusettes said something one morning many years ago: