It seems that loan rules for the average person are significantly different than for banks. The banks that have received TARP money refuse or can't say how the money is being spent.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/22/national/w000319S05.DTL&type=business&tsp=1

Hmmmm, wonder what would happen I if obtained a car loan and then took the money to Vegas? I'm sure the bank would have words about accountability and expect to receive a title for collateral.

Risk of deflation?

I found this article interesting....for the simple reason that the author quotes someone talking about the last two recessions and how they showed higher risk of deflation, but it never materialized. Is it possible that the model for predicting this risk is wrong and does not take into account the current pressures in the economy? After all, the accuracy of the model increases with the accuracy of the data, and economic data granularity has improved greatly in 50 years. But that also means that the factors would not have a long period of data to validate the model.

Workers and Taxpayers take a stand in Illinois

Workers and Taxpayers in Illinois are taking a stand against their employer and the bank that refused to provide credit so that the company can make payroll and comply with the Federal WARN act. The bank in question received TARP funds, ostensibly to fund the purchase of a failing institution, but the intent of those funds is the emergency stabilization of the economy. This should qualify.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/08/chicago.labor.protest/index.html

The Federal WARN act requires employers of a certain size provide 60 days' notice to workers of layoffs over a certain threshold. Many companies provide this notice by paying workers at least 60 days of salary or wages.

I hope that we see more workers and taxpayers taking a stand against big business.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The UN ratified this document in 1948. Would the world be a better place if every government on the planet treated it as law?
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

It is also surprising that this preceded the US Civil Rights Act by 15+ years.

Greetings, earthling!