For my money (heh, heh), Liddy's instinct to reach out to and dignify the Code Pink protesters was an off-note exposing how this guy has been calibrated to an absolutely stratospheric level of damage control.
Continue ReadingHow much is Jet Blue's clever attack on CEO's a clever play by Madison Avenue to co-opt public anger toward Wall Street?
Continue ReadingProbing the backstory surrounding the AIG – Administration bonus war, Josh Marshall offered some visual commentary on AIG executive Gerry Pasciucco based on an outfit the executive assembled for a 40’s Havana- theme society benefit in Fairfield County last June. Pasciucco (third from the right left) is a former...
Continue ReadingI came across this old, but undated AIG ad -- which seems to still leave John Q. Public at water's edge.
Continue ReadingI wonder what the chances are that Jim Cramer will actually clean up his act given that he spent the morning of his Jon Stewart interview making dough with perhaps America's most famous and unrepentant insider-trading convicts.
Continue ReadingI'm glad James Burrows actually likened Jon Stewart to Edward R. Murrow last night because all I could think of, while watching Jon Stewart pluck out Jim Cramer's feathers in bunches, was "Frost - Nixon," "Frost Nixon."
Continue ReadingGiven his role as the combined Mr. Fixit and Communicator-in-Chief of the economic meltdown, Tim Geither doesn't come off assertive, personable or even relatable. This photo by Ben Lowy, taken as the Administration was settling in, leads off a slide show at Fortune titled "Inside Obama's economic war room."
Continue ReadingFor me, what's poignant about the stripped Circuit City is how it emblemizes how FUBAR the country is now as a result of rampant consumption.
Continue ReadingFar from making Madoff into a monster, New York Magazine's Joker take-off turns him into a clown. With the economy in meltdown and Wall Street still running amok, it's just on more act of media denial we don't need.
Continue ReadingThe photo on the cover of the March Portfolio is from a cache of Madoff portraits just discovered from a ten-year-old photo shoot. I had several strong and immediate associations to this image.
Continue ReadingAlthough the crash explodes in an instant, it was developing well before: when people weren’t paying attention, when merely adequate brakes were installed, or barely adequate regulations enacted.... Emily Dickinson said it best: Ruin is formal — Devil’s work Consecutive and slow – Fail in an instant, no man...
Continue ReadingA look at the smooth performance of bank CEO's before Congress yesterday.
Continue ReadingIn contrast to all those scratching their heads right now over how they could have predicted this banking meltdown, it was common wisdom two years ago -- as this Economist cover and BNN write-up reveals -- that this market was going to crash.
Continue ReadingThis is a particularly strange image the NYT chose to insert in its lead article about Tim Geithner's unveling of the Administration's banking bailout plan.
Continue ReadingThe most distinctive thing about this financial meltdown image might be the fact it's already four-and-a-half months old.
Continue ReadingThis BAGnewsNotes slideshow, featuring the images of Getty photographer Mario Tama, looks at CEOs, especially as they come under new scrutiny from the administration and the press. The images were captured at press conference last week featuring Pfizer CEO Jeffrey B. Kindler and Bernard Poussot, CEO of Wyeth. Pfizer...
Continue ReadingThe most significant image of the week involved Obama calling the media into the Oval Office to intentionally shame Wall Street.
Continue Reading