With the decade ending tomorrow, the chorus blaming bankers—and only bankers—for the economic “lost decade” will finally crescendo. (Lots of think pieces will appear online and in papers everywhere.) Naturally, politicians play the populist claptrap card to fan the flames of blame and envy. In truth, naturally, there is plenty of blame to go around, but it was not just the bankers’ irresponsibility that brought us here. more

In today’s FT, Gillian Tett, a fabulous journo and author of Fool’s Gold, quotes the legendary Paul Volcker as stating the best innovation that the financial system produced over the last decade or so was the automatic teller machine (ATM). Funny, but not really so true. more

In the past, advisors would advise their clients that to make money, it was best to have “time in the market” versus timing the market. But, the brutal bear market of 2008 prompted new research that shows it may be best to avoid big losing days rather than going long 100 percent of the time. more

You gotta love Lloyd Blankfein, it’s true. The Financial Times on Thursday named him its Person of the Year because: “He has led for three years, not only navigated the 2008 global crisis better than others on Wall Street but is set to make record profits and pay up to $23bn in bonuses to its 31,700.” But what about the cohort of retail financial advisors who gather assets and, in general, don’t blow up firms? more

Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) was dean of the Austrian School of Economics—that queer group who think that only free markets can properly set prices, so societies should be as free as possible. Rothbard was an economist, economic historian, and libertarian political philosopher. He raises a good point in an article first published in 1979: In the 1930s, “they” thought markets failed. Not so. more

Here is an interesting comment from UBS Wealth Management cheif Bob McCann. This is a quotation told to our contributing editor John Byrne in McCann’s first on-the-record interview to be given to any magazine in October after joining UBS. Prior to joining UBS, McCann spoke generally about his attitude to bonuses. Clearly he is cautious, if not a skeptic of big bonues. Anyway, here is what he told our own John Byrne: more

This, from Dow Jones Newswires just now, is worrisome:

The White House said Friday that the U.S., China, India and South Africa reached a “meaningful agreement” for combating climate change. The deal was described by an administration official as “not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change but it’s an important first step.”

The White House official said developed and developing countries have agreed to listing their national actions and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There will be a mechanism to funnel money to help developing nations pay for technology and projects to cope with the affects of climate change, such as rising sea levels. The agreement sets a target of two degrees Celsius for the increase in global temperatures.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126112727324796837.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

Our friends at the Tax Foundation are in (somewhat) of a state of disbelief that the estate tax (among the most anti-liberal policies ever) will actually go away—for 2010. Here is a post from the non-partisan Tax Foundation blog (well, partisan in that the group seems to seek a rational tax system but non-partisan in that the group is equally critical of politicians who love to tax and favor): more

The estimated earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for Q4 2009 is 210%, says S&P today. Of course, last year’s Q4 was so hideous . . .

Here’s an interesting press release that just crossed my desk:

DYLAN CHRISTMAS ALBUM IS FOCUS OF NEW “DONOR ADVISED FUND” FROM CAFAMERICA, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

$125,000 Already Raised in Royalties for Charitable Donations; Hundreds of Thousands of Homeless Adults, Children to Receive Free Meals Through CRISIS, the UK’s Leading Charity for Single Homeless People

ALEXANDRIA, VA.///December 10, 2009///In what appears to be a first, a “donor advised fund” (DAF) will be used to channel the royalties for charitable donations from sales of a major music recording. more