Rattner Floated as Car Czar; Sources: Barclays Planning 2,100 Lay Offs; BG Group Pumping Billions into Brazil Oil; Pfizer Cutting 800 Research Posts; Oil Snaps Week-Long Skid; Commercial Banks Borrowing Less Than Investment Banks; Companies Scramble to Fill Pension Plan Gaps

Sources close to the matter told Bloomberg News that President-elect Barack Obama may name Steven Rattner as “car czar,” a top-level position that would oversee the conditions of which bailout money is given to U.S. auto companies, Bloomberg reported. Rattner co-founded private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC in 2000. Barclays plc is planning to cut more than 2,100 jobs from its investment banking and investment ...

As we all plan our investments for 2009, no factor is more important than the economy.  It is a subject on which everyone has an opinion.  That is the natural state in the American democracy, dating back to the observations of Alexis de Tocqueville.  His famous work, Democracy in America, is still read by every student of political science. While a complicated work should not be summarized in a sentence, the Wikipedia article includes a good warning: Democracy in America predicted the violence of party spirit and the judgment of the wise subordinated to the prejudices of the ignorant. The 21st Century Democratic opinion has advanced into the 21st century.  Modern scholars are impressed with how well de Tocqueville's work has held up, but there are some changes.  With the help of the Internet, everyone is able to offer ...