Snippets...

Welcome to Snippets, Blawgconomics' semi-regular attempt at covering a lot of topics from the worlds of law, economics and politics in a little time. Some would call this lazy; economists prefer the term 'efficient.'

- President Obama, perhaps due to a lack of support on a comprehensive renewable energy bill from his buddies in Congress, decided to take matters into his own hands. Setting an example for all Americans, the Obama family has decided to Go Green at The White House, as a plan to put solar panels on the roof was announced. Obama is not the first president to tap into sun power in the nation's capital as President Bush previously placed a few panels on a maintenance building, and President Carter famously placed the first set of panels on the actual White House in the late 70's. However, there are none currently on The White House itself as President Reagan had Carter's removed in 1986. While we at Blawgconomics applaud the effort, we would be more impressed if the Environmentalist-in-Chief lent his support to certain other solar initiatives...

- Chalk this one up to some sad and perverse version of the old maxim 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it': The Supreme Court is set to decide whether First Amendment rights allow anti-gay protestors to ruin the private funerals of US soldiers.

- Interesting poll results from Rasmussen suggest that electing a multi-racial President wasn't the key to peace and harmony after all.

- SocGen 'rogue trader' Jerome Kerviel received his sentence for cheating the French bank's controls and losing nearly $5 billion in a series of increasingly aggressive trades. For his troubles, which he claims were facilitated by his superiors, he has received three years hard time, two years suspended, and a mandate for restitution. In other words, he owes the bank almost $5 billion. Though nobody seriously thinks that he will pay back even a cent of that money, the judgment does essentially exonerate the bank and takes certain tax penalties off of its books. Though this is entirely speculation, it wouldn't be surprising in today's world if the verdict was at least partially motivated by the politics of the situation.

- Think of it as the old prisoner's dilemma, but instead of a token prize in a first year economics class, it is the fate of the developed world in the balance...The IMF has warned that, if countries continue to keep up with the Joneses on currency movements, the nascent global recovery will likely fail. The problem of course is that no one wants to be the one holding the overvalued currency in the trade balance version of musical chairs. Developing...

- It seems as if some of the Greek austerity measures are working. This is especially important as it appears that the previous government apparently did as poor a job with record keeping as it did with the actual economy. Let's hope the Spaniards (and others) are taking notice...

- Perhaps concerned that the world's largest economies are trying to print one way tickets straight from Deflationaryfearville to Exportbliss City in a plan that has about a 90% chance of failing, rich people are buying gold.

- It appears that even the people who decide who the smartest people in the world are aren't immune to the vagaries of the financial markets. The Nobel Foundation, which manages the fortune left by dynamite inventor and prize namesake Alfred Nobel, has been losing money in the equity markets. As a result, the committee which awards the prize has frozen the value of the award since 2001. Though the amount is nominally the same, due to inflation, this year's prize is the lowest in real terms since 1999. However, as the prize money is still in the neighborhood of $1.4 million, I am sure nobody is complaining.

- The history of US foreign relations is a complicated one where for every highly-touted success story, there seem to be some dark chapters. Even among some of the darkest, a recently uncovered one stands out.

- The ownership group of the Boston Red Sox baseball club has successfully bid for control of the Liverpool football club in England. Though the notoriously tribal Liverpudlians haven't taken too kindly to the current crop of Yanks running the team, the new owners are hoping that clearing up the current debt turmoil facing the club and renewing a storied tradition of winning can help bridge the ocean-sized gap.

- And finally, in a story to keep an eye on which becomes more interesting the more The White House denies it, rumors around DC suggest that presidential advisors are considering the merits of a Clinton for Biden swap in 2012...