An introduction to the theory of oligarchy in practice today.

Ron Suskind’s new book is getting some attention for the gossipy tidbits it uncovers, like this one.

By now, many of you have probably read Frank Rich’s inaugural piece for New York Magazine. Freed from the bean counters and word counters of the New York Times, Rich pours forth pages (and pages) on what he calls “Obama’s Original Sin.”

I am not going to say that Rich is not being tough, per se, just that he isn’t as tough as he thinks.

In The Monster, Michael Hudson gives us a detailed account of the how Roland Arnall created Ameriquest and made it into the giant of subprime lending. In the process the book implicates the major Wall Street firms, most importantly Lehman, who eagerly packaged junk loans into mortgage backed securities and more complicated instruments. He also notes the corruption of the three major credit rating agencies, who received big fees for giving these assets investment grade stamps. The list of aiders and abettors includes Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, California Governors Grey Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even the community group ACORN.

Just what the country needs — another veteran of the Vampire Squid.

What’s important to understand is that this reversion to 2009 rates permanently would cost the country $292 billion dollars, according to the Tax Policy Center. If we made it retroactive to capture the tax on estates in this holiday year of 2010, maybe it’s closer to $250 billion. But it’s still a large hole in the budget relative to current law, in a time when every deficit hawk is screaming about long-term debt.

Accountability is a foreign word for the Obama administration, unless you’re talking about walking away from an underwater mortgage.

Thanks to a worldview that says, essentially, protect the banks, and let nature take its course, we have banks making record profits during this major economic recession — nature has been cruel to everyone without a Wall Street address. And the Robert Rubins of the world don’t have the imagination, or the desire, to think of what to do in that situation.

The market has dropped over 400 points in the past two days, and it’s been down 9 out of the past 12 days. While there are certainly a lot of factors influencing the situation, the market’s volatility sends a clear message is that the reform bill is inadequate to restoring confidence in their wake.

The Hamilton Project – the Financial Times loved it: In that context, we welcome the launch yesterday by the Brookings Institution of a new platform – the Hamilton Project, named after America’s first Treasury Secretary – to address America’s looming economic challenges. Although composed mostly of Democrats, the group states a clear preference for market-based solutions to America’s problems.