What have I been doing?

Several months ago, I took my head out of the home décor blogs when I read these:

The Quiet Coup
The Big Takeover

Then, spent many hours (daily) in online reading to get an understanding of the US/global economic meltdown. Remember, I was reading Apartment Therapy and purchasing crafts and art on Etsy. (Ok, I still do but much less!)

Fill a few brain cells with these:
Financial Crisis for Beginners
Sold Out
The Crash Course

While I am also trying to get a handle on healthcare reform, James Galbraith reminds me that This Crisis is Way Bigger Than Dead Banks and Wall Street Bailouts. And, Matt Taibbi strikes again.

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. - The Great American Bubble Machine by Matt Taibbi

Holy crap Matt. But, then somebody steals code from Goldman "that could be used to manipulate the markets" and Goldman posts $3.4 billion second quarter with its bankers on track to get an average $770,000 each this year!

Media reaction to this news is summarized at The Financial Times with this note:

... probably the best comment on the Goldman results comes from Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor and attorney general. Speaking to Bloomberg, he said US banks had made a “bloody fortune” while receiving taxpayer money without a proven benefit to the wider economy...

If I didn't understand "vampire squid" Matt follows it up with another great article complete with what could be a bulleted list.

Whew... off to look at Home Sweet Home.