Scooping Poop to Mozart Augurs Trough in Housing: Caroline Baum When CondoFlip.com debuted in 2004, you knew housing was headed for a tumble.

Bernanke Flubs Tryout, Still Up for Leading Role: Caroline Baum Somewhere in the West Wing, Larry Summers is smiling.

Obama Bulks Up `Too Big to Fail’ With Steroids: Caroline Baum Back when Bob Rubin and Larry Summers were running Treasury and financial crises were confined to developing countries, international-government types would opine about revamping the “global financial architecture.”

Fed’s Soup Kitchen Becomes Magnet for Lobbyists: Caroline Baum Maybe it’s a sign of the times, or a manifestation of bailout fatigue, that news of lobbyists descending on the Federal Reserve creates little reaction and no outrage.

Washington Obituaries Offer Short-Sale Tip Sheet: Caroline Baum Everyone knows money buys influence. The entire lobbying industry is based on that premise.

Bernanke Stares Down the Interest-Rate Bears: Caroline Baum For the past six months, the federal funds futures market has been a haven for widows and orphans, minus the benefit of coupon-clipping.

‘Legacy of Debt’ Gives Fiscal Stimulus Bad Name: Caroline Baum By the time the U.S. government unveiled its Public Private Investment Partnership in March, the toxic loans and securities clogging bank balance sheets had become “legacy assets.”

Bond Vigilantes Find True Calling in Zimbabwe: Caroline Baum Wouldn’t you know it? As soon as I leave for a week’s vacation, the bond vigilantes show up!

Inflation ‘Cure’ Exposed When In-Laws Move In: Caroline Baum When Ben Bernanke arrived at the Federal Reserve, first as a governor in 2002 and then as chairman in 2006, he was known as an inflation targeter.

Economists Stuck in 1930s Need a Decade Update: Caroline Baum Depression avoided. Another recession to follow? That seems to be a concern for some academics, including Princeton economist Alan Blinder.