Economics and Investing:

Charley keyed in on a piece in The Atlantic, where Jeffrey Goldberg contemplates survivalism: Why I Fired My Broker ^[1]. The accompanying video clip, titled “The Con Game” ^[2] is quite entertaining and has some snippets about his acquaintance Cody Lundin–a survivalist and author.(Cody is the author of When All H*ll Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes ^[3] — currently around #300 in the Amazon ranks.) Here is a quote from the print article: “For the record, I don’t think the grid is buckling under the weight of consumer debt or the mistakes of AIG. But we’re in a strange moment in American history when a mouse-eating barefoot survivalist in the mountains of Arizona makes more sense than the chief investment strategist of Merrill Lynch.” The article also quotes conservative economist and investor Bill Gross.

JHB spotted this by Jim Willie: Banks Must Brace For New Losses ^[4]

Items from The Economatrix:

IMF Warns Over Worrisome Parallels to Great Depression ^[5]

Inflation Laid Bare ^[6] (The Mogambo Guru)

AIG Says No to Insureds, But Yes to Executive Bonuses

Google’s Recession-Proof Armor Dinged