Daily Reads

today, I made my daily rounds of the big newspaper editorials and articles. The best reads:
Henry Paulson - Fighting the Financial Crisis, One Challenge at a Time
Paulson's self-defense is similar to his interview with Jim Lehrer last week. Paulson's case is that he was never trying to save the economy but save the financial system. His second point is that we still have 450 billion left for the next administration. He certainly seems to be saying, "I'm outta here". At least that is my take.

Richard Cohen's - Finding His Inner FDR - I totally agree with Cohen here. The point is that Obama needs to keep the American people optimistic. This is a bit of a no brainer point but it is important when thinking about priorities and in understanding Obama. Obama's big passion is actually unity and the new politics, but his number two passion is hope. I think Cohen missed it in the sense that President-elect Obama made the point about FDR's ability to coach people through the depression via the fireside chats already. What is interesting is to pay attention to how much irrationality and mood plays a role in economics. In other words, consumer confidence is a good term to use to gage, well, the economy.