This is the article Paul Kedrosky commented on. I think it is one of the more intelligent ones, and I mostly agree with everything. It kind of puts the current situation in perspective, which is dire, but it also talks about a few solutions with should or should not be done.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/794801a8-63e8-11dd-844f-0000779fd18c.html

Interesting iTulip article I found from a post over at piggington.com:

Housing Bubble Correction Update: here comes the jobs crash

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury Department's plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an ``unmitigated disaster'' and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are ``basically insolvent,'' according to investor Jim Rogers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7hS5BuYqeR8&refer=home

In Japan, they even have a word for working oneself to death: "karoshi".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_overwork_death

Download: July 2008 SDI Economic Ledger

According to the latest report by the California State Board of Equalization (BoE), taxable retail sales in San Diego County have fallen 2.9 percent since 2005. Over this same time period, the number of retail businesses in the County has also declined by nearly 2,900. This in spite of the fact that the County population has increased by 2.3 percent and payroll jobs are up 2.1 percent over the same period.

From Paul Kangas' interview with Sir John in 1999:
SIR JOHN TEMPLETON: So many people think they're wiser than they are, and they take risks. They buy on borrowed money, not thinking they're ever going to be called to pay it back. So, I believe the most dangerous thing you can do, business-wise, is to be excessively optimistic and use borrowed money or base your whole career on any one concept or asset.

Sir John Templeton passed away yesterday at the age of 95 near his home in the Bahamas.

Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/transcripts/080708f/

Update: View Transcript

James Grant, Editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, will be interviewed by NBR Anchor Paul Kangas about recent Wall Street trends, the outlook, and some favorite stock picks.

Watch Nightly Business Report on your local PBS station:
http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/upcoming/upcoming/

I try to watch this each evening, but if I miss it, they post the transcript the same night.

House Of Cards: The Mortgage Mess
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/25/60minutes/main3752515.shtml

Great 60 Minutes piece featuring Jim Grant. I love this part, 'you had to apply NOT to get a loan'. He is spot on.

"I mean free money. I mean you had to apply not to get a loan, almost. Sometimes you have to apply to get a loan, you almost had to apply not to get one," Grant says.

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/104939/Stimulus-Payments-to-Go-Out-Ahead-of-Schedule

The federal government, eager to boost the flagging economy, will start distributing special stimulus payments Monday—four days earlier than expected.

"Beginning Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach households," President Bush said Friday. "This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we're seeing at the gas pump and at the grocery store."

Interesting coincidence that the FOMC rate-setting meeting is Wednesday, a day before people were originally supposed to start seeing their direct deposits/checks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/18/cneuro118.xml

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's newly elected premier, has called for a change in the ECB's mandate, proposing a dual mission akin to the US Federal Reserve's mandate to promote growth as well as fighting inflation. He has the support of France's Nicolas Sarkozy.