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Have you had enough of doom and gloom yet? Now for a bit of optimism...

Some interesting thoughts on the shape of a (possible) U.S. recession.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism rips into former Fed Chairman Greenspan. "When Richard Nixon tried to rehabilitate his reputation, he didn't dispute the horrific errors of judgment he made while in office. He instead made useful, substantive intellectual contributions on other fronts. But Greenspan is an ideologue and intellectually bankrupt, so this option may not be open to him."

The dollar is at risk of being surpassed by the euro as the world's leading reserve currency in the next seven years, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

How generous is your government?