The Chicago Tribune Endorses Obama

In a very thoughtful and well-written editorial, the Chicago Tribune endorsed Barack Obama for president of the United States stating: “We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.” It is great to see that the Tribune is putting merit and America’s best interest before its political allegiance which generally lies with the Republicans. In fact, the Tribune points out that this is the first time that the newspaper endorses the nominee of the Democratic Party. The Tribune goes on to say that "[Obama] has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions." I could not agree more. He is ready.

Paul Krugman Wins Nobel for Economics

The news came out on Monday, but I was too busy to blog that day. So, somewhat belatedly, congratulations to Professor Krugman for receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics. Well deserved, Professor! In my mind, this is one of the most visible and prestigious Nobel awards and I am glad it went to Krugman. Although I am not a professionally trained economist, I have been reading much on the topic and have been following his column in the New York Times pretty regularly. Considering what has been happening in the last few years, I find his opinions to be very much on target. His latest column was also dead on. It appears that the $700 billion package and the measures taken by Henry Paulson and the Fed did not calm the markets (or at least did not have the immediate effect some people expected). We had some very, very negative few weeks. Then Britain followed by the other leading EU countries decided to provide massive equity infusions into the banking system and guarantee bank debt. This seems to be the right approach. At least the markets reacted positively. The indexes in the US shot through the roof when the news came out on Monday.