Via Bridget Crawford at Feminist Law Professors:

Feminist Law Prof Darren Rosenblum has posted to SSRN his article, “Feminizing Capital: A Corporate Imperative.” Here’s the abstract:

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Maureen Tkacik in Slate, analyzes the reactions to Sheila Bair by the Finance Boyz and finds a lot of familiar misogynist tropes.

This isn't the post I want to write, but a few links (since Lambert asked). I think there are many respects in which finance is a feminist issue: these articles address some of them. So this is your summer reading list. :)

The first is a paper which is very dense with analysis, but worth it if you get through it: The Demystification of Global Finance: A Feminist Interpretation by Stacey Mayhall.

The second is an opinion piece from the Christian Science Monitor: More Women in Finance, A More Sustainable Economy.

Not saying I entirely agree (or disagree) with either of these authors, but they provide a good start to the discussion.

I've been wanting to write about the way the Finance sector came to dominate our economy, and what that means: a debt-driven economy. Barry Ritholz at The Big Picture has provided a graph that is certainly worth a thousand words:

The chart compares the rise in Total Credit Market Debt (as a percentage of the GDP) to Finanacial Profits (as a percentage of the GDP). And - surprise! - they rise in tandem!

That's about all you need to know. The rest is commentary.

Saw Ryan last night and took him for dinner. He's lost weight since he got out of the pokey, but he looked pretty good.

He's now an indentured servant.

Ryan's working for a guy who restores classic cars, from tires to antennas, rebuilding, painting, the whole thing. He helps with that work as well as rebuilding the barn the guy uses as a shop, bracing the posts as the whole structure is on the verge of collapse.

Obama donors get access to top advisers" (not the small online donors, silly!)

"Aides to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) scheduled pricey luncheons, roundtables, readings, VIP receptions and policy dinners with campaign officials and advisers, offering donors a taste of his potential administration. ..."

Get their ears even before the election-- Buffet, and Daschle, and Cutler, and Tanden, and Jarrett, etc. (Article also includes a very non-complete list of just some October big $$ events.)

Activism by Shareholders Picks Up Steam Online

Some campaigns aim to unseat board members. The CtW Investment Group, which is affiliated with a coalition of labor unions, wants board members at six financial firms, including Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, to explain what they did to manage subprime-loan risks. Says CtW's Mike Garland: "Absent compelling explanations, we'll recommend that shareholders vote against reelection."

Department of about damn time. Notice that it is labor unions taking action, NOT institutional investors. Remember who your friends are, it is not the manager of your mutual fund.

I'm reminded of that scene in Godfather III, for which I can't seem to find a YouTube, in which Michael learns that Old Yurp ain't so askeerd of his new world tough guy shit after all. I don't know jack about econ, but this seems important to me:

IHT - Politicians, regulators and financial specialists outside the United States are seeking a role in oversight of American markets, banks and rating agencies in the wake of recent problems related to subprime mortgages.

Their argument is simple: The United States is exporting financial products, but losses to investors in other countries suggest that American regulators are not properly monitoring the products or alerting investors to the risks.
"We need an international approach, and the United States needs to be part of it," said Peter Bofinger, a member of the German government's economics advisory board and a professor at the University of Würzburg.

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Thai Billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra denies that he and the billionaire elite are staging terrorist attacks against Thai citizens. The alliance between telecom, finance and terrorism is one of the intersections of modern global domination that goes unnoticed.

I can’t take it seriously. I just can’t. I mean Obama couldn’t beat Bobby Rush. If he isn’t the classic example of http://marccooper.com/obama-inc/ "> made man I don’t know what is.