Banking On The Brink
Let's be concrete here. There's a reasonable chance - not a certainty - that Citi and BofA, together, will lose hundreds of billions over the next few years. And their capital, the excess of their assets over their liabilities, isn't remotely large enough to cover those potential losses.  Paul Krugman in today's NY Times.

Elderly Emerge as a New Class of Workers -- and the Jobless
During past recessions, older workers simply would have retired rather than searching want ads and applying for jobs. But these days, with outstanding mortgages, bank loans and high medical bills, many of them can't afford to be out of work is reported in this WSJ article.

Obama, Reagan Have Economy In Common
President Obama delivers his first speech to a joint session of the Congress Tuesday night at the Capitol. The main focus will be the economy. The last U.S. president to inherit a very serious economic crisis was Ronald Reagan in 1981.  Don Gonyea discusses in this NPR piece this morning.

As Doubts Grow, U.S. Will Judge Banks' Stability
The Obama administration will begin taking a hard look at the financial condition of the country's 20 biggest banks this week to judge whether they could hold up even if the downturn worsens further than policy makers already expect in this NY Times piece.

Governors v. Congress
The stimulus sets a long-term budget trap for the states says this WSJ column.

Ivy League White House Mimics Finance Masters
"If Wall Street was brought down by the Ivy League's supposed best and the brightest -- with their complete faith in risk-management models taught in business schools -- then who failed to rein them in?" asks Kevin Hassett in Bloomberg.

Paging Doctor Zeke
All too regularly, the result was a poor patient outcome and wasted money and time.  Howard Fineman writes about health care alternatives from a very interesting source, the real Emanuel brother to watch in Newsweek.