And then there were none.

Somehow, when posting my previous post, I missed Mrs. Florence Green. The last surviving WWI veteran has now passed. RIP, Mrs. Green, et al.
BBC

Last U.S. WWI veteran passes

Just since I was covering this for a while, Frank Buckles has passed, aged 110.Link

Publicly-Owned Utilities and the Recession

I have already commented on the local water utility and their interesting ideas as to what constitutes "investing in the community". However, today I discovered they decided to kick it up a notch.

The Scranton Times-Tribune reports today that, as the third-costliest water utility in the state of PA, they are petitioning the PUC for a rate hike. Of almost 14%. Which would bring us up to second-costliest!

They suggest that it's because they've invested *so* much money into the local infrastructure. But there's also a completely separate charge on the bill for "Distribution Systems Improvement". And rates got hiked 9% in 2007.

I'll have more on this later, but I mainly just wanted to get the links bookmarked for handy reference.

Write the PUC and your state representatives, dammit.

Hershey's sending more jobs to Mexico

As a Pennsylvania citizen, I've always had a soft spot for Hershey's chocolate.

Turns out the relentless flow of globalization is causing more jobs to get shipped down to Mexico.

Boycott Peppermint Patties, 5th Avenue, Zagnut and Jolly Ranchers.

Production of York Peppermint Patties and other candy brands is coming to an end at The Hershey Co. plant in Reading.

After 23 years in Reading, the chocolate maker is closing the plant Friday and moving production to a new factory it has built in Monterey, Mexico. Hershey (nyse: HSY - news - people ) says it will mean the loss of about 260 jobs in the southeastern Pennsylvania city.

The plant also makes 5th Avenue and Zagnut candy bars and Jolly Rancher hard candies.

Boxee Box

Posted for convenient reference.

Link

Krugman on the Fed and "Clap Louder"

Krugman posts today about how in 2005 the Fed were not listening to any negative news relating to securitization.

I'm rather astonished by the sheer magnitude of the groupthink that must have been happening in policy-making circles during the go-go years.

I'm an IT guy by trade, so it's not my job to worry about economics/finance/public policy, but I am an interested observer. There seemed to be an awful lot of flashing lights and alerts out there for quite some time. There was also long time when you could both believe that Roubini was over-the-top yet still be very concerned about the future.

I'm sure that most Fed members were probably not visiting Calculated Risk every day, and I'm not even sure if the blog existed then. But way back in that same year, The Economist came right out and called "the biggest bubble in history", specifically in housing, but it also suggested that we had a Global bubble across all assets, IIRC. This is The Economist, so it's not that you had to be a Bush-hating fringe Lefty to read this.

This whole situation reminds me of the old saw: "Experience is the ability to recognize that you've made this same mistake before."

Hank Paulson - Hits it out of the Park

My boy Hank really delivered in an interview reported today, as we head into the scary leg of the Global Financial Crisis.

Paulson says U.S. lacked tools to tackle crisis: report

Hmm....I'd have to argue the administration had quite a few tools running the show, sir.

He said even after Congress in October approved the $700 billion troubled asset relief program, the U.S. still lacked tools such as an adequate special bankruptcy regime for non-bank financial firms.

"We're dealing with something that is really historic and we haven't had a playbook," he said.

So, I get it that $700B wouldn't buy enough tools. I'm sure they don't sell these things at Harbor Freight. But, dude...you didn't have a playbook? Aren't you...like...the coach?

"The reason it has been difficult is first of all, these excesses have been building up for many, many years. Secondly, we had a hopelessly outdated global architecture and regulatory authorities...in the U.S.," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Ah, yes...The old "outdated regulatory authorities". I recall endless discussions about the quaint, Depression-era regulations while Congress was dismantling Glass-Steagall and enabling wholesale financial deregulation.

The article delivers the Money Quote towards the end:

"But we have been for some time in the frustrating situation of understanding much more than the public or even the Congress understood in terms of the magnitude of what we are facing."

Um...yeah. That's why by October of last year, I felt the need to post my year-end summary of Paulson On-Message.

Heckuva job, Hank. Enjoy your millions.