A senior official at one of the Scandinavian central banks told The Daily Telegraph that [US] Fed strategists had stepped up contacts to learn how Norway, Sweden and Finland managed their traumatic crisis from 1991 to 1993, which brought the region’s economy to its knees.

It is understood that [US] Fed vice-chairman Don Kohn remains very concerned by the depth of the US crisis and is eyeing the Nordic approach for contingency options.

Scandinavia’s bank rescue proved successful and is now a model for central bankers, unlike Japan’s drawn-out response, where ailing banks were propped up in a half-public limbo for years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/31/cnfed131.xml

If this comes to pass, it represents a bigger financial revolution than anything that FDR presided over during the New Deal.

It is also indicative of the pervasive stench of fear emanating from finance sectors world-wide.

Who said that the credit crunch was no big deal?

1) is nonsense

Even given a) Glen Milne is an annoying twerp and b)Kevin Rudd is out of the country: c) Single Aged pensioners without assets are desperately poor still obtains.

Condition c) is independent of a) and b). Or to put it another way, just because it is in News Limited and just because the opposition will milk it for what it is worth, does not make it a story of no consequence.

I’m simply pointing out two things.

1. The argument mentioned in Frank’s story in favout of increasing single pensions is illogical.

2. The two-for-one argument is equally true whether or not the two are exchanging bodily fluids.

Just when the thought of your trial by Piers, in room 101, was getting exciting.

How about incense censers at ten paces with Christopher Pearson?

I also had been reading a blog of one Jack Robertson from a link I followed from a comments post from here - great style and content IMO when he blogged regarding politics.

But as of a few days ago it seems to have been scrubbed - I do hope all is well with Jack.

(if this content is not applicable or there may be a better posie, please let this blog greenback know)

Well, Mark, we could soon fix up that little problem, no worries.

It’s for the Higher Ed supplement, actually! So it’s gonna have stuff along the lines of what I’ve been writing for them.

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/02/14/fable-of-the-cultural-elite/

When I get around to writing for them again. But I’m too busy at the moment with my own higher education - ie finishing phd.

I think once a week - and I’d certainly intend to respond to commenters. But it’s not really going to be political blogging as such.

Mark has to go through the initiation process yet.

17 days of brainwashing while Keven 07 is away and the highly experienced forces of evil are running rampant.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23450922-5001031,00.html

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/markbahnisch/

What can you tell us about your blog at the Oz.

When does it start?

Is it only going to be a 12 hour one?

Will it be only once per week or more often?

Will you be responding to commenter’s as you do here?

Looking forward to it to hopefully balance out the extreme right wing tripe that is currently there except perhaps for Mega.

Cheers, Scorpio.

The National Seniors group wants Ms Gillard to make good on her feminist rhetoric and support a lift in the single age pension from 60per cent of the couples’ pension to 66per cent. This would bring it in line with Britain, the US and New Zealand.

This is weird, looking-glass logic. The couples’ pension is calculated as a percentage of the singles’ pension, not vice versa.

The equitable thing to do is to pay each member of a partnership a single pension.

It’s invidious and inequitable for individuals to be penalised financially simply because they are deemed to be exchanging bodily fluids with each other. Two pensioners living under the same roof who are deemed not to be into the fluids exchange thing would each receive a single pension.

It’s a nonsensical tax on respectability.