The Bould Ronnie Drew


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Great tribute (earlier) to the bould Ronnie Drew from Dunne & Dunner with Maeve Whelan and Andrea Hunger, based on the traditional “Johnny Dhu” (aka The Little Beggarman or The Red-Headed Boy.)  Check out the lyrics in the sidebar.

Fiddling during bubbles

Barry Ritholtz has a characteristically blunt assessment of the current financial crisis:

There is a choice to be made: Either we regulate the Banks, or leave it to the vagaries of the free markets to punish those who trade with, or place their assets in the wrong institutions. But for God’s sake, do not give us the worst of both worlds — do not allow banks the freedom to make horrific but preventable mistakes (i.e., only lending money to those who can pay it back), but then expect the taxpayers to foot the trillion dollar bill.

You can practically hear him pounding the table as he writes. He’s angry at Alan Greenspan for getting us into this mess, for politicians refusing to acknowledge reality, at regulators for failing in their obligations, and at much else besides.