Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, jumps before he is pushed UNPOPULAR, isolated, and facing the humiliation of impeachment, Pervez Musharraf resigned as president of Pakistan on Monday August 18th. In an emotional address, he accused his opponents of pursuing a “vendetta” against him. Even before the speech ended, they were dancing in the streets. The former dictator’s demise had looked inevitable since August 7th, when the ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), declared that it would impeach him. A list of Mr Musharraf’s alleged crimes had been compiled and would have been presented to parliament shortly after his address, if he had not resigned. The charge-sheet included Mr Musharraf’s first seizure of power in 1999 and his second last November, when he declared a state-of-emergency as a means to get himself re-elected president. ...

30% of Economists now Believe Recession is Possible, this is up from 10% in Jan 08.   Though I really do not believe much in economists, for once I agree with them.  The chances of the economy contracting in the first half of this year is great, even Bernanke admitted the possibility.  I think that it is more or less confirmed that the recession is underway.   What I am hoping for is a short recession, but the recent actions taken by the Fed seemed to have the effect of lengthening the recession.