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Weekend Must Reads

Washington, May 10 -

Bloomberg: Tea Party Rant II Awaits Next Homeowner Bailout

On Feb. 19, 2009, CNBC editor Rick Santelli let loose on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in response to President Barack Obama’s proposal to subsidize underwater mortgages.

Santelli’s famous rant gave birth to the Tea Party. Obama’s proposal gave way to numerous initiatives, known by the catchy acronyms HAMP and HARP (but not HARM), all of which fell short of the administration’s initial goals.

UK Telegraph: China may not overtake America this century after all

Doubts are growing about whether China can pass the US to become the world's biggest economy this century amid warnings that the country’s 30-year miracle is nearing exhaustion.

Real Clear Markets: The SEC's Cross Border Regulatory Creep

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed its cross-border security-based swaps rule under Dodd-Frank with great fanfare and a unanimous commission vote. Many outside the SEC have deemed the proposal a success, presumably because it is not as bad as the approach taken by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that has angered regulators the world over. Exceeding the CFTC's low bar is a pretty poor metric for assessing regulatory success.

New York Post: No happy ending for the Fed’s stock party

Friends don’t let friends invest drunk.

I think that’s an apt warning, considering what’s been going on in the stock markets, which reached all-time highs this week even though the economy is — at best — limping along and may even be deteriorating.

CATO: Regulation, Market Structure, and Role of the Credit Rating Agencies

During the financial crisis of 2008, the financial markets would have been better served if  the credit rating agency industry had been more competitive.