Marketplace Scratch Pad

Morning Reading

Scott Jagow Oct 9, 2009

Good Friday to you. Among this morning’s items, the most hated rally in Wall Street history, monopoly money, and the blob:

It’s all just monopoly money (Minyanville)

Let’s face it: Dollars — the things we call money — are simply pieces of green paper. They’re just a state of mind. They have no intrinsic value and are just like wampum. Thus, they’re not worth anything. Furthermore, all paper currencies historically have lost all of their value.

The most hated rally in Wall Street history (The Big Picture)

Can we cut the corporate tax rate? (Tax Policy Center)

President Obama’s interest in raising the top rate on wealthy individuals only increases the challenges. If we cut the corporate rate from 35 percent to, say, 25 percent but at the same time raise the top individual rate from 35 percent to something over 40 percent…well, you can see the problem. Many high earners will turn themselves into corporations to dodge the higher individual rate.

Insurers say changes could derail health bill (NPR)

Health care reform: The blob! (PBS NewsHour)

JULIE ROVNER: Well, you know, it does feel like it’s kind of moving inexorably forward. For all the — the — everything that they went through in August, all the efforts to really try to stop it — I described it as this blob that is moving forward very slowly, three miles an hour. But all these efforts to shove it off track really don’t seem to have worked.

So, it’s not going very fast, but it does seem to be going forward.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, think of this as a big blob.

This is too funny (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The 30-year-old Wisconsin Tourism Federation has changed its name to avoid an acronym.

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