“It is critically important that Congress act before the [debt] limit is reached,” Tim Geithner wrote over the weekend in a letter to lawmakers, “so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations.”

There’s a lot of Internet chatter these days about the possibility of the U.S. government seizing its citizens’ private gold holdings. What are the chances?

“It looks like things are finally turning around,” said a friend at Saturday night’s dinner. “Not at all… ” we replied. Paul Krugman says the world “avoided a second Great Depression.” He’s wrong too.

The U.S. unemployment rate slipped to 9.4% in July from 9.5% in June, the most encouraging sign yet that the U.S. recession is easing.

Social Security? Not Exactly

At least something good has come out of the economic crisis; it blew off the purple robes that clothed economists and exposed their naked flanks. Still, they don’t deserve the beating they’re getting in the press – with snide remarks and sarcastic comments; they deserve better. A beating with sticks!

Thanks to Junior Mogambo Ranger (JMR) Joseph Z., who sent the Bloomberg article of the National Weather Service saying, “The high in New York City today is forecast to hover around 80 degrees, making it only the second time on record that June and July temperatures failed to reach 90,” which I take as proof that the world is not heating up, but instead is cooling down.

 Goldman Sachs Would Have Collapsed If Not For Henry Paulson.

As we all know, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees depositors that they’ll get their money back if a bank fails, at least up to a certain amount. To fund its operations, the FDIC collects small fees from the banks that are held in reserve for the purpose of taking over troubled banks and paying off depositors.

Is it time to buy a house? Depends…