Tim Fernholz

Michael Lewis takes a look at the financial crisis by way of revisiting ground trod in his book Liar’s Poker, a tale of his years as an investment banker in the 1980s. It’s a pleasant exercise. As well as offering a decently understandable explanation of the complex financial instruments that led to the crisis — […]

Wrote this piece, and from it there are two interesting notes for House watchers. 1. With the departure of Rahm Emanuel, the position of Caucus Chair gets less plum. Emanuel had kept himself heavily involved in DCCC operations and basically supervised incumbent retention. But Emanuel’s apparent successor, John Larson, won’t get those responsibilities — they’re […]

Ah, recall the controversy of talks with Iran sans pre-conditions. Those were the days! Now Iranian leadership is reacting to Obama’s election as president. The Washington Post has a round-up: Since 2006, Iran’s leaders have called for direct, unconditional talks with the United States to resolve international concerns over their nuclear program. But as an […]

Going off what Ezra says here, we should probably get into this White House political office debate. Basically, the political office is the resident political operative in the White House, keeping in touch with the national and state party committees and considering the political implications of policy choices. In the Bush White House, it had […]

Is it just me, or does this Politico lede just miss the point entirely of the whole Baucus gambit? President-elect Barack Obama’s first fight over health care may not be with the Republicans, but with his fellow Democrats in the Senate. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday unveiled a health care plan […]

Ambinder suggests the news that Ron Klain will be appointed the Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff creates a “dilemma.” To which I reply, huh? Ambers is looking for controversy where none exists. While I’m sure the “people freak out because Obama hires experienced staff instead of people who entered politics after March 2007” is a nice […]

Hold on to your hats, it’s another Obama-Biden transition announcement. Yes, Agency Review team leaders have been identified. These folks will be going through every aspect of each agency’s responsibilities in order to determine how to approach policy making, budgetary decisions and appointments — essentially, they are the first briefers for the Cabinet appointees to […]

In this transitional Think Tank Round-Up, you’ll find the latest on global food policy, Palestinian politics, the troubles of young workers and disaster response. Enjoy! Let Them Eat Food. New measures are needed to help the poor cope with steadily rising global food prices, according to a recent Center for Global Development working paper. Because […]

As I mentioned before, it’s going to be interesting to see how the current president and the president-elect maneuver through the politics of the upcoming G-20 Summit. Though Obama will not be attending, his camp has just announced that former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Republican Representative Jim Leach will be available to […]