New administration | Basic questions Treasury still hasn’t answered
ASK THIS| March 06, 2009
The oversight panel appointed by Congress to watch over the government's $700 billion financial bailout still can't get straight answers to simple questions. No wonder public confidence isn't high.

The overseas press | A Detroit collapse is seen doing damage globally
COMMENTARY
Japan, Germany, India could be hard hit if American automakers are allowed to go under. (The overseas press.)

A crisis of legitimacy for capitalism | Some serious talk about 'spreading the wealth'
COMMENTARY
Henry Banta, citing a talk at Harvard by Lawrence Summers, notes that there has been staggering income redistribution – upward – in recent decades.

The overseas press | The U.S. is widely criticized in the financial crisis
COMMENTARY
The Overseas Press: A Japanese official says, “We made a mess of solving our banking crisis in the 1990s…Washington carefully studied what we did and made a bigger mess.” And in Tehran, there is some gloating.

The 2008 financial crisis | In the future, get information in time to prevent a crisis
COMMENTARY
This is a job for serious experts. We’ve got them in academia. Let’s put them to work in Washington in an organized, watchdog fashion.

Financial risk, operational risk | Reporters, can you get the facts and run them by us one more time?
ASK THIS
Wick Sloane, MBA and all, has some basic questions about the current financial crisis. Like, for example, does anyone know how close we may be to finding our checking accounts inaccessible?

A silver-lining to this cloud? | Long-range issues in resolving the financial crisis
COMMENTARY
Among the questions: Who exactly needs to be bailed out; are state pension funds damaged in your area; will programs be cut and taxes raised; will mortgages be modified so that people stay in their houses?

The overseas press | International media are critical of McCain
COMMENTARY
The overseas press: A sampling of opinion in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Canada shows harsh views of McCain’s response to the financial crisis. Some say that, as a result, he has handed the election to Obama.

The 2008 financial crisis | How much will the Paulson package cost, and where’s the money coming from?
ASK THIS| September 20, 2008
Martin Lobel notes that under Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson’s proposal, all key decisions would be made by him or his designees and would not be reviewable. Shouldn’t that raise some questions?

A second-day story | What’s the impact of the meltdown in your state?
ASK THIS
Wall Street sold an enormous amount of doubtful derivatives to state pension funds. What happens now?

Election 2008 | Questions for McCain and Obama on the economic carnage
ASK THIS
The candidates talk about protecting the middle class; how would they follow up? Would they, for example, continue to let multinational corporations shift their profits to tax havens abroad? Keep taxing income from labor at a higher rate than income from capital? Eliminate corporate subsidies?