By Tad DeHavenLast week, after Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said that holders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s debt shouldn’t be expected to be treated the same as holders of U.S. government debt, the U.S. Treasury took the “unusual” step of reiterating its commitment to back Fannie and Freddie’s debt.
If ever there was case against allowing a few hundred men and women to micromanage the economy, this is it.

Congress wants to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) that will regulate everything from credit cards to mortgages.
House Democrats want the CFPA to be an independent agency, but Republicans are opposed. As a result, Senators Chris Dodd and Bob Corker are thinking of making it an arm of . . . the Federal Reserve!

Last week I wrote:
Full-out patent war against an equally matched competitor means mutually assured destruction … so large companies inevitably settle and use their patents to keep new innovators out.
As if to prove my point, Fortune quotes Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner who says that is exactly what is happening:

Sports bore me but I can’t get enough of the great burger battle. McDonald’s reported sales increases of 4.8 last month. Most of the increases are overseas but it is no surprise that its domestic sales are solid as can be.

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